REU Project

In my short stay here at Michigan Tech, I have become very accustomed and fond of Houghton because of its beautiful landscapes, pristine waters, unique history, and its rural atmosphere. Within the last couple of decades, however, development along the “M-26 corridor”, a national highway which runs through the heart of the community, is threatening to make Houghton synonymous with hundreds of other sprawling communities within the United States. A staple of such expansion throughout many of these sprawling communities is the introduction of a Wal-Mart, and as of a decade ago, Houghton is no exception. My REU project is to collect data on the history of Wal-Mart’s development within the city of Houghton, and research its effects on the surrounding economy and ecology. The information would then be relayed to future citizens, local businesses, and city officials in order to develop a Water Management Plan. Ultimately the Water Management Plan will be used in order for the city to receive grant money from the state to restore the quality of Huron Creek Watershed.

Personal Information

I currently reside in the city of Rochester, Michigan, a suburb of metro Detroit, and as of this fall I will be attending my Sophomore year at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. I am presently majoring in Ecological Economics and Policy and plan to minor in environmental law. Within my University, I am an active member of the College Democrats, Eco Club, and University Committee for a Sustainable Campus. This past year I have been involved in several on campus sustainable initiatives such as petitioning for the reintroduction of a comprehensive, university wide recycling program, and attempting to prevent the expansion of our university’s coal power plant. Next year through these organizations I hope to help update our set of sustainable indicators for our campus, as well as initiate the first Sustainability Day at MSU.
In my spare time I also study meteorology and politics, as well as enjoying Kefir’s (a delicious, highly protienous, probiotic, milk smoothie ) on a hot day, basketball, running, music, John Stewart, The History Channel, and Sunchips.
Though I have not had the opportunity as of yet to study abroad, I plan to soon take social science based courses in Europe as well as environmentally concentrated courses within South or Central America within my remaining three years as an undergrad.