Penn State Energy and Environment Calendar

A collection of upcoming energy and environment events from around Penn State and beyond.

 12:15 – 1:15pm  108 Wartik Laboratory  Full details
AbstractIn multicellular organisms, often cell shape stems from restrictions imposed by the extracellular environment. Eukaryotes control this by building a wide variety of extracellular structures, ranging from bone and shell in animals to the silica-based cell walls in diatoms. These structures, which are often patterned over macroscopic scales, impose constraints on morphology. Yet, individual cells are responsible for depositing extracellular matrix. Thus, how organisms control large-scale patterning of their extracellular matrices is an open question.
 1:25 – 2:15pm  106 Animal, Veterinary, and Biomedical Sciences Building  Full details
AbstractAgroecological nutrient management applies ecological principles to sustain agroecosystem productivity, build soil organic matter and climate resilience, and reduce nutrient losses to the environment. This talk will integrate findings from experimental and observational research focused on managing crop diversity to simultaneously build soil organic matter and reduce reliance on external nutrient inputs. In a two-year experiment on 14 working farms, we identified soil properties that predict variation in cover crop functional traits and ecosystem functions.

 12:00 – 1:00pm  Online  Full details
In this talk, we explore how microbes in animals, people, and the environment are interconnected—a concept known as “One Health.” Our well-being depends on maintaining healthy ecosystems, and understanding microbial communities is key to addressing challenges like antimicrobial resistance. We’ll discuss how surveillance systems help track harmful microbes across the food chain, from production to consumption, ensuring food safety.

 All day  The Central Hotel and Conference Center  Full details
The Pennsylvania Housing Research Center (PHRC), housed in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Penn State, will host a residential construction conference March 26-27 at the Central Hotel and Conference Center in Harrisburg. The conference invites housing industry professionals — such as builders, design professionals, remodelers, code officials, educators, factory-built housing manufacturers and product manufacturers — to discuss best practices, regulation and innovation in the residential construction industry. 
 12:00 – 1:00pm  157 Hosler Building  Full details
Collier estimates the causal effect of emergency credit on households’ finances after a negative shock. He links application data from the U.S. Federal Disaster Loan program, which provides loans to households that have uninsured damages from a federally-declared natural disaster, to a panel of credit records before and after the shock. He exploits a discontinuity in the loan approval rules that led applicants with debt-to-income ratios below 40% to be differentially likely to be approved.
 3:30 – 4:30pm  112 Walker Building  Full details
Atmospheric aerosols are intricate mixtures of chemical species, with individual particles exhibiting diverse compositions, shapes, and morphologies. This evolving "aerosol state" plays a crucial role in atmospheric processes, yet remains one of the largest sources of uncertainty in global climate predictions. Despite advances in measurement techniques and process-level understanding, capturing the full complexity of aerosol-cloud interactions remains a major challenge.  

 All day  The Central Hotel and Conference Center  Full details
The Pennsylvania Housing Research Center (PHRC), housed in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Penn State, will host a residential construction conference March 26-27 at the Central Hotel and Conference Center in Harrisburg. The conference invites housing industry professionals — such as builders, design professionals, remodelers, code officials, educators, factory-built housing manufacturers and product manufacturers — to discuss best practices, regulation and innovation in the residential construction industry. 
 9:30 – 10:30am  132 Flex Theatre HUB-Robeson Center  Full details
What if your next smartphone could design its own circuits? Or if a power grid could predict failures before they happen? Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are turning these possibilities into realities, revolutionizing the field of electronic engineering. Yet, as design complexity grows and sensor networks generate unprecedented data volumes, the challenge lies not just in processing information—but in making timely, intelligent decisions from it.
 10:35 – 11:35am  217 Forest Resources Building  Full details
Rebecca Hargrave is an associate professor in environmental sciences at SUNY Morrisville. She teaches courses and field labs on arboriculture, dendrology, forest recreation, tree health, and forest and wildlife sampling. She has urban forestry degrees from Penn State (’99) and the University of Minnesota (’01) and is currently a Ph.D. candidate at UMass Amherst. Also, Rebecca is an ISA Certified Arborist and is Tree Risk Assessment Qualified.
 11:00am – 12:00pm  118 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building or Online  Full details
PFAS Seminar Series Jack Vanden Heuvel - Professor of Molecular ToxicologyTitle: PFAS Toxicology and Human Health RisksIn the 2025 spring semester, SAFES will host a series of talks to highlight Penn State's ongoing PFAS research/extension efforts and analytical lab capacity.
 2:00 – 3:00pm  213 Engineering Design and Innovation (EDI) Building  Full details
This presentation will explore my research on plastic debris movement within watersheds. It will begin with an analysis of microplastics in Sligo Creek, where we measured concentrations across 20 distinct sampling sites. Next, it will introduce an innovative bottle-detecting software designed to track and count water bottles as they travel downstream. Finally, the discussion will shift to my work in STEM education, highlighting the implementation of hard hats for first-year students and their impact on student engagement and outcomes.

 8:00am – 4:30pm  Penn State Harrisburg  Full details
The Center for Signal Integrity at Penn State Harrisburg will host the 18th Annual Central Pennsylvania Symposium on Signal and Power Integrity on Friday, March 28, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on campus.Signal integrity describes the quality of electrical signals passing through connectors used in electronic devices such as computers or cellular phones. Participants will have the opportunity to learn from international experts about the latest developments in signal and power integrity.
 11:00am – 12:00pm  Foster Auditorium, Paterno Library  Full details
The Food Science Department and the One Health Microbiome Center are co-hosting the 2025 Healthy Lion Award Lecturer –

 3:00 – 4:00pm  Nittany Lion Inn  Full details
Penn State graduate students will showcase their research in Penn State’s second annual Three Minute Thesis competition on Saturday, March 29, hosted by the Fox Graduate School. Community members are invited to attend, support participants, and vote for their favorite presentation.

 All day  The Central Hotel and Conference Center  Full details
Advance your expertise in agricultural conservation through hands-on learning, expert insights, and invaluable connections—all designed to strengthen conservation efforts and impact.

 All day  The Central Hotel and Conference Center  Full details
Advance your expertise in agricultural conservation through hands-on learning, expert insights, and invaluable connections—all designed to strengthen conservation efforts and impact.
 12:00 – 1:00pm  Online  Full details
Join Stefan Streckfus, CTO of Renewell Energy, for a free, one-hour webinar exploring the untapped potential of inactive wells. With a career dedicated to developing and deploying new technologies, Streckfus offers a fresh perspective on these wells—not as obsolete infrastructure, but as valuable assets with a new purpose. Discover how Renewell Energy is pioneering gravity energy storage to transform inactive wells into critical components of a sustainable energy future.

 All day  The Central Hotel and Conference Center  Full details
Advance your expertise in agricultural conservation through hands-on learning, expert insights, and invaluable connections—all designed to strengthen conservation efforts and impact.
 9:00am – 4:15pm  312 Earth-Engineering Sciences Building  Full details
A Workshop Organized by the Penn State PIE InitiativeFeaturing a mix of panels and engaged discussions, this workshop will introduce the emerging field of political-industrial ecology with a focus on how to do political-industrial ecology research. 
 10:35 – 11:35am  1 Chemical and Biomedical Engineering Building  Full details
The chemicals and materials industry (CMI) is a major economic driver across the world and its products are essential for our well-being.  However, this industry is responsible for 30% of direct greenhouse gas emissions and contributes to ecological degradation due to products such as plastics, artificial fertilizers, and novel chemical entities.