Wood is an amazing biomaterial and can be used to produce paper, energy, and construction materials. Can we engineer wood to meet or even surpass the toughness and durability of carbon-intensive products like concrete and steel? I will discuss ongoing collaborative research that seeks to generate and characterize advanced materials from Northeastern hardwoods, which cover much of Pennsylvania and represent carbon sinks that can help build the bioeconomy.
Penn State Energy and Environment Calendar
A collection of upcoming energy and environment events from around Penn State and beyond.
Countries across the Global South face water management challenges at both ends of the spectrum: sometimes there is too much water in the case of flooding and at other times there is not enough water to support agriculture and development. This talk will examine how water management decisions – with the examples of dams in sub-Saharan Africa and rice production in India – exacerbate socio-economic vulnerability today and in the future. Ongoing and future research ideas will be presented with the aim of providing evidence to support policy-making in these contexts.
While thermal property analyses (TGA, DSC, SDT) are often considered routine techniques the published literature demonstrates that these are frequently misused or underutilized. I will review the capabilities of the MCL thermal analysis suite to include highlighting the less obvious information that can be obtained with each technique. Additionally, the tradeoffs associated with each technique will be discussed to provide practical guidance for choosing the proper analyses.
Recently, there has been a growing demand for graduate students of all disciplines to communicate well with diverse audiences about what they do and why they do it. In two consecutive sessions devoted to the composition and delivery of a short research or scholarship presentation, we will explore how structured and dynamic communication can set a speaker on a path for success. In the first session, participants will have an opportunity to draft content that summarizes their project in effective ways that will reach a non-specialized audience.
The Penn State Outreach K-12 Engagement Network and Penn State Sustainability are pleased to host the inaugural Penn State K-12 Sustainability Summit, a two-day event that brings together the K-12 and Penn State communities to collaborate on new pathways to increase sustainability efforts in the K-12 space. Attendees will engage in design thinking workshops to surface the sustainability-based needs of individual schools and how partnerships with Penn State can support the unique needs of K-12 school systems.
Rational addiction models have long been pivotal in understanding addictive behavior, yet empirical investigations often overlook the complexities inherent in household-level consumption dynamics. Leveraging comprehensive scanner data from the Circana consumer network dataset and supplementary health data from the Medprofiler survey, this study provides a household-level analysis of rational addiction to ultra-processed food products and its implications for health outcomes.
October's presentation will be Tim Ryan on “Quantification and visualization of skeletal microstructure using microCT”
Join the Penn State Computed Tomography (CT) Users Group, hosted by the Center for Quantitative Imaging (CQI). This group is open to faculty, students, and researchers across all Penn State campuses who are interested in harnessing the power of computed tomography for their work. All experience levels are welcome, from novice to expert.
What is Computed Tomography?
Recently, advances in machine learning, hardware (e.g. GPUs/TPUs), and availability of high-quality data have set the stage for machine learning (ML) to tackle problems for weather and climate. This has led to a paradigm shift in operational weather forecasting, most evidently seen by the vast amount of resources being invested into AI models at the leading operational centers including NOAA, ECMWF, and others.
The Penn State Outreach K-12 Engagement Network and Penn State Sustainability are pleased to host the inaugural Penn State K-12 Sustainability Summit, a two-day event that brings together the K-12 and Penn State communities to collaborate on new pathways to increase sustainability efforts in the K-12 space. Attendees will engage in design thinking workshops to surface the sustainability-based needs of individual schools and how partnerships with Penn State can support the unique needs of K-12 school systems.
2024 Women Advancing River Research Seminar Series
All seminars will be presented online live at 11:00 a.m. ET on the third Thursday of each month. Seminar recordings will be posted later. Please register in advance for all talks.
Non-Perennial Streams Over Space and Time
Julianne Scamardo, University of Vermont (U.S.)
Sarah Godsey, Idaho State University (U.S.)
Cyanobacteria, often known as blue-green algae, are making headlines for their potential to form harmful algal blooms (HABs), which can produce dangerous metabolites like cyanotoxins and taste and odor (T&O) compounds. These blooms can disrupt aquatic ecosystem balance and pose significant risks to water quality and aquatic life. Effective surface water monitoring is essential for early detection and management of HABs.
For decades, hydrogen has played a subtle but integral role in society, supporting the oil & gas and chemicals industry and serving as a key input in everything from plastics to fertilizer. However, it has only been in recent years that hydrogen has been seriously considered as a decarbonization agent in industries like transportation and power. Why now? What has changed? As the need for integrated solutions grows, hear how industry leaders like Mitsubishi Power are delivering optimized, all-in-one solutions tailored to meet the evolving needs of their customers.
Coffee Hour is a weekly lecture hosted by the Department of Geography celebrating interdisciplinary scholarship and collegiality. Topics range from innovations in GIScience, to food security, to land use and justice issues, among others. All members of the Geography, Penn State, and surrounding community are invited to attend.
Speaker: Jamil Bey, President & CEO of UrbanKind Institute
Thomas Burk, chief executive officer of Danville State Hospital, will discuss ways his institution has refined its operations to reduce environmental impact while enhancing financial sustainability.
The GreenGov Council and Penn State SustainabilityOpens In A New Window are co-hosting our sixth webinar series focused on various sustainability topics. All who are interested in expanding their knowledge of sustainability initiatives are invited to participate!
This project discussed how to improve forest management to capture more carbon dioxide from the air, while considering challenges like different forest types and economic pressures.
More about the project: https://climate.psu.edu/what-we-do/climate-solutions-accelerator/projects/forest-carbon-assessment-and-management-across-scales/
Part 1: Building a Regional Coalition for Reducing Waste in the Food Manufacturing Industry
Join us for a free webinar focused on Pollution Prevention (P2) tools and best practices for the food and beverage manufacturing industry. Gain insights into reducing operational costs, enhancing sustainability, and joining a regional effort to upcycle food waste and conserve energy.
Key topics include:
The workshop will feature two distinguished keynote speakers, lightning talks from participants, and participatory sessions designed to foster climate justice focused collaborations.
Day 1 will feature expert lectures and seminar style conversations that provide a conceptual and theoretical orientation to different climate justice considerations and frameworks.
Angela Smilanich grew up in western Colorado. After receiving her B.S. In Biology at Colorado Mesa University she spent six years in New Orleans tackling her Ph.D. at Tulane University. She is now an Associate Professor in the department of Biology at the University of Nevada, Reno. She enjoys reading, rock climbing, yoga, and playing with her 10 year-old son, Hank.
Coffee Hour is a weekly lecture hosted by the Department of Geography celebrating interdisciplinary scholarship and collegiality. Topics range from innovations in GIScience, to food security, to land use and justice issues, among others. All members of the Geography, Penn State, and surrounding community are invited to attend.
Speaker: Meredith Palmer - University of Buffalo
The workshop will feature two distinguished keynote speakers, lightning talks from participants, and participatory sessions designed to foster climate justice focused collaborations.
Day 1 will feature expert lectures and seminar style conversations that provide a conceptual and theoretical orientation to different climate justice considerations and frameworks.