HESAL - Key Persons
I am a freshman Mechanical Engineering Technology major here at MTU. I came up to Tech in the first place because I found the area and the history surrounding it so interesting. I choose to join the HESA lab team for the opportunity to delve more into GIS. Currently, I am working on transcribing the Calumet and Hecla employee records for the Mapping Miners at Home and Work project.
I am a first year Anthropology major at Michigan Technological University. I discovered the Keweenaw Time Traveler through a class where Professor Don Lafreniere gave a presentation on the program. This is my first year with KeTT and I will be working on the CLIR Mapping Miners project. I will be transcribing the old Calumet and Hecla mining records so that they can be used for research. I am excited to work on this project and am looking forward to seeing where this program leads me.
I am a fourth year Biomedical Engineering student with minors in Spanish and Leadership. Even though I am graduating in May 2020, I can't wait to dive even deeper into the area history before I go. I developed a passion for the area's complex history through my work with the Michigan Tech Archives and look forward to the opportunity to not only learn more, but work on a project that makes the unique history of the Keweenaw more accessible to others.
I am a third year History major here at Michigan Tech. I am involved with researching how French- speaking people migrated through North America. Since attending school here in the Keweenaw, I have found its diverse history fascinating. Very little is known about the presence of French-speaking communities throughout the region. By engaging with the community and accessing school and work records in the archives, I can better understand how French culture influenced the Keweenaw.
Job Titles:
- Geospatial Research Scientist
Job Titles:
- Senior Geospatial Research Scientist
I am the Director of the Historical Environments Spatial Analytic Lab. I am a live-long historical geographer and expert in geographic information systems. I have a deep appreciation for the history and heritage of the Copper Country and find both the villages and the industrial remnants around the region to provide an amazing laboratory to study our social and environmental history. My research focuses on building new ways for the public to learn about the history of places through the use of maps and historical data. I also study the impact of how we build our cities impacts our livelong health, how past people commuted to school and work, and social processes like mobility, segregation, and the creation of strong sense of place
The postindustrial landscape demonstrates the profound impacts of industrialization, today presenting a complex mosaic of uses and re-uses-many of which are informal, vernacular, and vital components of the living, descendant, landscape. My dissertation work with the Keweenaw Time Traveler is an investigation of vernacular preservation, in particular the role that common, ongoing usage plays in driving material perseverance of postindustrial properties.
I am a social historian who prioritizes spatial and material evidence in my investigations of American life. My current book project focuses on the spatial aspects of social power and mobility within houses and neighborhoods at the turn of the twentieth century. I interpret the different ways that people in different class and ethnic groups experienced fashionable upper-middle neighborhoods in the Copper Country. The Keweenaw Time Traveler project will create an incredibly valuable research tool for researchers like me. But the KeTT can be so much more than a research tool. By involving the public in building and contributing to this collaborative online map and database, we hope to connect residents, tourists, and anyone interested in how the Keweenaw has changed over time. This kind of community-engaged work informs my teaching as well as my research.
Job Titles:
- Senior Research Associate
I am a first year Mining Engineering student here at Michigan Tech. I'm from a small town in the UP that was founded on the iron mining industry, so I have always had a natural curiosity about mining and the history behind it. When I was introduced to the lab's project with documenting Calumet & Hecla Mining Company cards, I knew it would be a perfect fit. Now I have the chance to work directly with historical documents from the copper mining industry, and to understand the industry from its early beginnings all the way into present day. I'm very excited to see where this opportunity can take me and what I can learn about the past to apply to the future.
Job Titles:
- Senior Research Associate
I am a first year anthropology major here at Michigan Tech. I chose to come to Tech because of the strong presence of culture and history in the surrounding communities. I chose to become a part of the Keweenaw Time Traveler team in order to learn more about the people who lived here and the families that may still live here and how the mining industry has impacted them. I am helping to transcribe the Calumet and Hecla employee records for the Mapping Miners at Home and Work project at the moment and am excited to see where this takes me.
Job Titles:
- Senior Research Associate
Job Titles:
- Geospatial Research Scientist
Job Titles:
- Senior Research Associate
I am working on my Doctoral degree in Industrial Heritage and Archaeology. My background is in historic preservation, sociology, and art. GIS has proven to be a powerful tool in utilizing spatial information as empirical data that may be visually designed to enrich the greater body of knowledge and to engage the public. My ambition is to contribute creativity and social consciousness to the Historical Environments Spatial Analytic Lab.