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Originally chartered as "The Farmers' High School," Penn State has had an environmental focus from its beginning.
History
Highlights from Penn State's and IEE's beginnings to today
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Penn State is founded.
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Penn State is the first U.S. university to award baccalaureate degrees in agriculture.Image
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Penn State is the first U.S. university to award graduate degrees in agriculture.
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The Jordan Soil Fertility Plots are the University’s first large-scale undertaking in scientific research to determine long-term effects of fertilizer on soil and crops.Image
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The Ag Experiment Station is established at Penn State following the passage of the Hatch Act, supporting agricultural research in the U.S.Image
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The colleges of Engineering and Earth and Mineral Sciences are founded
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Penn State begins conducting sponsored research to improve the refining process of crude oil.Image
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Penn State becomes the first U.S. university licensed to operate a nuclear reactor. The reactor became a training and research tool for peaceful applications of atomic energy.Image
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Research on the concept of the Living Filter begins.
Penn State researchers begin to investigate the land application of wastewater.
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Institute for Research on Land and Water Resources is established.
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Penn State begins recycling all of its treated wastewater effluent through a land application treatment system known as the Living Filter.Image
The Living Filter is an active example of the University’s long-standing commitment to sustainability.
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Institute for Research on Land and Water Resources merges with Center for Air Environment Studies to form the Environmental Resources Research Institute.
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Pennsylvania Spatial Data Access is created.Image
PASDA, Pennsylvania's official public access open geospatial data portal, is a cooperative project of the Governor's Office of Administration, Office for Information Technology, and IEE.
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University Park Continuous Commissioning Program begins.Image
The University Park Continuous Commissioning Program focuses on the re-commissioning, retro-commissioning, and maintenance of campus buildings in order to reduce energy costs and optimize building performance.
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Penn State Institutes of the Environment is established and begins co-funded faculty program with thirty environmental researchers.
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Environmental Inquiry minor starts.
The intercollege minor is designed for students across the disciplines who wish to prepare for addressing environmental issues or problems as professionals or citizens.
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Colloquium on the Environment is created and begins bringing national environmental leaders to Penn State. The first speaker was Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.Image
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Penn State Institutes of the Environment adds energy to their charge and becomes Penn State Institutes of Energy and the Environment.
Twenty-four additional cofunded faculty members focused on energy research join the institute.
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Penn State starts the Green Teams program, groups of faculty, staff, and students who work to make their unit’s operations more sustainable.
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Penn State launches a new standard for carpet purchasing, installation and removal program that would ensure 100% of Penn State carpet never sees a landfill.
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Penn State installs a solar array outside the main Office of Physical Plant facility to provide power to charge its 100% electric vehicles.Image
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Science Communication Training Program is established.
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Energy Days, a two-day conference focused on creating new partnerships to address key research needs and provide innovative solutions to energy challenges, is created.Image
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Penn State steam plant switches completely from coal to natural gas.
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Energy and Environmental Sustainability Laboratories are created.
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Penn State signs an open letter to the international community that affirms the University’s support of the Paris Agreement to address climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions on a global scale.Image
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Penn State Waste Stream Task Force convened
The Penn State Waste Stream Task Force is convened and charged with creating responsible goals and principles to guide the University’s procurement, operational, and solid waste management decisions.
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Penn State partners with United Nations Economic Commission for Europe to create Global Building Network, a project aimed at making buildings more sustainable, more energy-efficient, and healthier for people.Image
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Penn State begins operation of a 2MW onsite solar array located at the University Park campus and starts a utility-scale solar project that will provide 25% of Penn State’s purchased electricity over the next 25 years.Image
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Penn State partners with Project Drawdown to host Research to Action conference, the first international conference on the science of drawdown.
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Penn State is ranked third in the U.S. and 35th in the world for sustainability in the Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings.
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Energy and Environment Lab sculpture installed
According to Talley Fisher (pictured on right), Senior Research Artist, the Energy and Environment Lab installation represents “the complex research IEE faculty and researchers are performing. Each theme reveals aspects of the research through patterns, materials, and symbology.”
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