Penn State Energy and Environment Calendar

The discovery of extrasolar planets enables us to tackle millennia old questions about whether the Earth and our solar system are unique, how they formed, and whether life exists beyond Earth. The 6000 exoplanets now known reveal many of the underlying mechanisms of how planets form and evolve, and the complex interplay between stars and planets that sculpt the atmospheres of planets and the architecture of planetary systems.

In this talk, Stewart will discuss how his laboratory investigates one of the most transformative events in the history of life: the water-to-land transition of vertebrates. This transition set the stage for the rise of tetrapods, the group of animals that includes amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. In the first part of the talk, Stewart will focus on the fossils of Tiktaalik roseae and its close relatives.

Forests are facing unprecedented levels of stress due to anthropogenic influences, like climate change and invasive pest introduction. My work explores whether forest tree species have the capacity to adapt to predicted changes. I examine how genes and environment interact to form plant trait phenotypes, and how these phenotypes are subsequently acted upon by selection.

Harpins are proteins secreted by most gram-negative bacterial species pathogenic to plants. While dissimilar in primary structure, harpins share the property of being able to elicit plant defenses when applied to plants as purified proteins. We used germplasm collection resources and genetic mapping to identify potential receptors for harpins in two harpin-responsive plant species: Nicotiana tabacum and Arabidopsis thaliana.

What if the technologies we use to understand the brain were as soft and flexible as the brain itself? For decades, neural interfaces/devices that help us listen to, communicate with, and heal the nervous system have been built like machines: rigid, metallic, and mechanically mismatched to the living tissues they touch. In this talk, I share how new generations of soft biomaterials and tissue-like bioelectronics are reshaping the way we connect with the nervous system.

It is existentially important (I would argue) for academia to bridge its immense (I would argue) divide with the general public. Many long‑standing institutional norms and processes—including promotion and tenure criteria—effectively discourage research that prioritizes meaningful societal impacts ahead of traditional scholarly outputs. Let’s discuss concrete, responsive + proactive steps that can be taken to help shape an academic culture that remains rigorous while becoming more deeply engaged with the broader world it serves.

Since nearly its inception, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has been home to one of the nation’s largest energy economies, playing a central role in key moments of the United States energy transition. Today, as the second-largest energy supplier in the country, Pennsylvania’s power and natural resource sectors rival those of many nations. However, rising energy demand and shifting industry trends are challenging long-standing energy institutions and paradigms.

Department of Geosciences Colloquium Series Spring 2026 Joel Rowland Los Alamos National Laboratory Host: Anastasia Piliouras

Sophie Giffard-Roisin, Fulbright Research Scholar at Lamont Observatory, Columbia University, will present “AI in Geoscience: Opportunities and Challenges of Foundation Models” on Wednesday, Jan. 28 from noon to 1 p.m. in the Deike Building.Abstract:

Protecting soil on agricultural lands is vital to both food production and environmental sustainability. Around the world, soils are eroding faster than they are forming, and conventional practices can accelerate this loss. Bare or highly disturbed soils are especially vulnerable to wind and water erosion, allowing nutrients and sediments to wash into nearby waterways. What happens on Pennsylvania farms directly affects the health of the Chesapeake Bay.

"From Microbes to Mountains: Collaborative Research on Páramos Resilience and Ecosystem Services" presented by Dr. Jose Luis Machado"The Dry Island Effect in the Andes Paleo Record: Implications for Future Water Resources in a Warming World" by Jaime Escobar

How do students really think about sustainability? Geography researchers Dr. Mark Ortiz and PhD candidate Harman Singh are getting interactive with their research at Science on Tap this month, exploring care, culture, and community in sustainability education.

In this session, Andrew Schroeder—one of the leading national figures in humanitarian data, community resilience analytics, and rapid disaster intelligence—will share how Crisis Ready and Direct Relief are transforming disaster preparedness and response around the world.

Alzheimer’s disease is a complex and devastating condition affecting millions of people worldwide. Understanding how it progresses and identifying the best strategies for early intervention are major scientific and medical challenges. In this talk, Hao will share how his team is using advanced computational modeling, artificial intelligence, and digital twin technology to create personalized simulations of Alzheimer’s progression. These models help us predict how the disease develops in individual patients and explore the impact of potential treatments.

Research has shown that neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders such as autism, schizophrenia, and depression have a strong genetic basis. Over the past two decades, Girirajan’s research has focused on identifying genes that contribute to these disorders and understanding why individuals carrying the same genetic variant show different clinical outcomes. In the talk, Girirajan will highlight ongoing research in his lab on how genetic mutations arise and accumulate, and how individuals with these mutations become susceptible to different disease trajectories.

Research scientist Matthew Goldberg will present “Strategic climate communication research for real-world impact” at 4 p.m. on Feb. 24 in the Foster Auditorium of Paterno Library.

Hydrogen and methane play vital roles in producing food and energy, but to slow climate change, they must be made and used in ways that release little or no carbon dioxide. This talk explores two new “green” methods for producing hydrogen without relying on fossil fuels when using electricity from renewable sources, and a method to make renewable methane. These technologies offer promising ways to produce clean hydrogen and renewable methane, helping reduce carbon emissions and move toward more sustainable energy systems.

Extreme weather conditions, induced and intensified by a global climate emergency, increasingly impact communities across the world. In the face of climatic threats (including heatwaves, droughts, fires, and flooding) and its impacts across spatial scales - from the body to the neighborhood - designers and residents alike spend mounting energy and resources to reshape their surrounding built environments and protect lives and livelihoods against such extremes.

Extreme weather conditions, induced and intensified by a global climate emergency, increasingly impact communities across the world. In the face of climatic threats (including heatwaves, droughts, fires, and flooding) and its impacts across spatial scales - from the body to the neighborhood - designers and residents alike spend mounting energy and resources to reshape their surrounding built environments and protect lives and livelihoods against such extremes.

The One Health Microbiome Center (OHMC) in the Penn State Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences will host the One Health Microbiome Symposium on May 13 and 14, 2026. The symposium will bring together researchers from an ensemble of traditionally siloed disciplines to unify microbiome science, reflecting the center's mission. By welcoming industry partners and convening experts from the "One Health" pillars of human, agricultural and environmental health, the symposium highlights a central principle: Human health is inseparably linked to the health of our environment.