Weekly Message 10/4/2020

Happy Sunday evening,

I hope the extension of the Lab 2 deadline to Tuesday at 11:59 pm has been helpful. I will also move the participation question deadline to Tuesday at 11:59 pm.

During Tuesday and Thursday sections, we will discuss Assignment 2 (which will not entail any lab experiments). Briefly, Assignment 2 centers around recent concerns regarding increased use of consumer-grade fireworks, especially surrounding holiday celebrations. Some organizations have suggested legislation or regulatory interventions to control their use. However, there is also significant opposition to these changes.  You have been “hired” by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) to provide “the best science and engineering” to inform legislators and/or agency staff. You will work on this assignment in your assigned teams and will be joined by an environmental policy student enrolled in MC 492. 

Air Quality in the US on July 4-5, 2020 (Source: US EPA)


We will also have time on Tuesday and Thursday lab sections to discuss Lab 3: Assessing the trophic state of a body of water. It would be best if you watched the video on Sampling before your lab section this week.

On Thursday, Dr. Axelrod (James Madison College) and I will host a panel on the use use of scientific information for decision making (zoom link and password will be provided later in the week), filmed with live viewing available October 8, 10:30-11:30am and available for viewing after (please submit questions in advance to me, no later than October 8, 9:30am); video will be posted as soon as possible after the panel discussion

The panelists include:

  • State Representative Julie Brixie (whose district includes MSU campus)
  • Travis Boeskool (Michigan Dept of Environment, Great Lakes & Energy)
  • Jenifer Dixon (Michigan Dept of Environment, Great Lakes & Energy)
  • Samantha Davis (Michigan Dept of Environment, Great Lakes & Energy)
  • Ben Miyamoto (Scholars Strategy Network)


As usual, I will post all this information on the class blog: https://ene480fall2020.blogspot.com/

I will also post a detailed description of the assignment by Tuesday morning.

All the best,

Dr. Masten

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