Past Events: Penn State Energy and Environment Calendar Archive

Department of Geosciences Colloquium Series Fall 2024 Joanmarie Del Vecchio College of William and Mary ​Host: Roman DiBiase

Discover the potential of winter rye in transforming farm sustainability and ecosystem health in our upcoming webinar. Winter rye is not only a high-performing feedstock for renewable natural gas (RNG) production in digesters, but it also offers a range of on-farm benefits. From enhancing biogas production to serving as forage and feed protein concentrate, this versatile energy cover crop can significantly sequester carbon while protecting ecosystems.

Quality materials characterization always begins with proper sample preparation. All too often individuals rush to analyze a sample without considering how its intrinsic state will influence results. Considering sample roughness, thickness, critical feature size, or potential sources of contamination are just a few questions to ponder before jumping on that fancy analytical instrument. The MCL has revamped its sample preparation laboratory with new expertise, equipment, and procedures.

New techniques to characterize materials at micro and nano scales have enhanced natural history research discovery. Paleontology, in particular, has benefited from advanced imaging techniques and characterization methods capable of analyzing small samples to understand biological and ecological systems in unprecedented detail. This talk will highlight recent work at the boundaries of paleontology, material sciences, bio-inspiration and wildlife conservation and explore avenues where the study of fossils contribute unique perspectives to modern problems.

Our project is motivated by the staggering prevalence of anxiety symptoms among adolescents and young adults, and the fact that millions of young people struggle to find accessible and healthy ways to manage anxiety. Our guided drawing intervention integrates an approachable and tangible activity with mindfulness elements. We have found that our guided drawing activity decreases anxiety within-session and days later and bolsters physiological regulation to a greater extent than controls. Our ongoing research examines neurocognitive and long-term effects of the intervention.

Lara Fowler, chief sustainability officer at Penn State, director of Penn State Sustainability, and teaching professor of law, will give the talk, “Decarbonizing Penn State: How Does Law, Policy, and Financing Fit In?” at 4 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 18, in 112 Walker Building on the University Park campus. Talk will also be available via Zoom.

Dr. Lei Zhao is an assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and an assistant professor affiliated with the National Center of Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). His research concerns the physical and engineering processes in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer, where most human activities and environmental systems are concentrated, focusing on built surfaces and urban environments.

The legacy of the Cold War and the decline of heavy industrial activity starting in the mid -1970’s has left behind numerous industrial and hazardous nuclear sites, while the recent shift towards sustainable energy demands the closure and repurposing of fossil fuel plants. This talk explores the innovative strategies and technologies employed in the remediation of these sites. We will delve into case studies of successful transformations, highlighting the environmental and economic benefits of repurposing these areas into new commercial and beneficial uses.

The ubiquity of residential land uses place them at the center of landscape sustainability, which has been defined as the capacity of landscapes (inclusive of natural and built elements) to maximize ecosystem services while minimizing disservices. With the prevalence of lawns in residential land systems, scholars and conservations have raised concerns about their ecosystem disservices (i.e., negative environmental impacts), which include high water use and diminished biodiversity.

Connected communities of grid-interactive efficient buildings leverage smart controls, sensors, and analytics to engage with the electrical grid, effectively reducing carbon emissions and lowering energy costs. This seminar presents recent research from national labs aimed at promoting these connected communities. It begins by the study of advanced control strategies, such as transactive control and stochastic model predictive control, to address the complexities and uncertainties of community-level energy systems.

Currently, around 60% of all plastics ever produced remain in waste sites, causing an annual economic loss estimated between $80-120 billion USD. Plastic production, which accounts for 6% of global oil usage, is projected to grow to 20% by 2050. Under harsh landfill and environmental conditions, plastics are subjected to factors such as high salinity, fluctuating temperatures, gas emissions, and microbial interactions. These conditions contribute to the breakdown of plastics into microplastics, which can harm marine ecosystems, wildlife, and human health through food contamination.

The Global Sustainable Action: It Starts with Us Conference is a part of the Global Sustainable Action Weekend (GSAW). The GSAW is comprised of an interactive Sustainability Weekend Kick-Off Event on November 16 and the Global Sustainable Action Conference on November 17. The Global Sustainable Action: It Starts with Us Conference (GSA) is an annual on-campus event at University Park that aims to:

The Global Sustainable Action: It Starts with Us Conference is a part of the Global Sustainable Action Weekend (GSAW). The GSAW is comprised of an interactive Sustainability Weekend Kick-Off Event on November 16 and the Global Sustainable Action Conference on November 17. The Global Sustainable Action: It Starts with Us Conference (GSA) is an annual on-campus event at University Park that aims to:

Reconstructing Hyperalkaline Environments with Isotopic Disequilibria

Discover how individual efforts in green labs can lead to large-scale impact. This talk will explore efficient lab space utilization, the need for changes in funding structures, and evolving European models expected to influence U.S. sustainability practices.

This event will highlight the ongoing activities and new initiatives in SAFES! Learn how SAFES research, education, and engagement initiatives can help your programs! Come hear from: Critical Issue Initiative Conveners Seed Grant Recipients AEC and CACAT directors

Henry Scharf is an Assistant Professor of Statistics in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Arizona. He graduated with a PhD in Statistics from Colorado State University, then joined the department of Mathematics and Statistics at San Diego State University for four years before moving to the UofA in 2023. His research focuses primarily on the development of new statistical methods for spatio-temporal applications in ecology including species distribution models and animal movement.

Join Penn State Sustainability, as it wraps up the Fall 2024 portion of its ongoing Intersections film program, with an online screening of the film Gather. This inspiring look into Indigenous leaders working to reclaim identity, overcome injustice, and build community by focusing on food sovereignty is an important reminder of the power of food to transform society. Following the screening, a post-film discussion on Indigenous footways will feature our November Showcase Series Speaker–chef and Indigenous food sovereignty leader Tawnya Brant.  

In follow up to last spring’s EMS Reads, which focused on Heather McGhee’s The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together, this semester’s EMS Reads speaker will bring the discussion home to EMS. Laura Pulido, Collins Chair and Professor of Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies and Geography at University of Oregon, will visit on Wednesday November 13 to talk about race and sustainability, helping us to better understand the costs of racism to climate and how white nationalism has become linked to climate obstruction. 

The vantage point of space provides a way to look at the Earth globally, with the ability to observe Earth’s interacting components (air, water, land, ice) and both naturally-occurring and human-induced processes.  It lets us look at variability on a broad range of spatial and temporal scales, and, given the decades of accomplishment, has allowed us to characterize and document Earth System variability on time scales from minutes to decades.