Past Events: Penn State Energy and Environment Calendar Archive

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.

Abstract: Flood impacts are increasing across sub-Saharan Africa. This talk will pitch a new idea for understanding how dams increase vulnerability to flood risk across the region, with a focus on Nigeria.

Department of Geosciences Colloquium Series Fall 2024 Sue Brantley Pennsylvania State University In-House Speaker

Biological samples are often difficult to image due to their thickness, low contrast, and native hydrated state. We will discuss two different techniques available for analyzing these types of samples in Penn State's Material Characterization Lab, including scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and liquid atomic force microscopy (AFM). Using a TEM with STEM-EDS capabilities, we can quickly acquire elemental maps at resolutions of less than 1 nm and sensitivities of less than one atomic percent.

Ion-sensitive field-effect transistors (ISFETs) have become useful for chemosensing (translating chemical composition changes into electrical signals) with applications in environmental monitoring, healthcare diagnostics, and industrial control.  This work explores the integration of machine learning with graphene-based ISFETs, using extensive sensor data for classification and quantification tasks.

The research misconduct process is often misunderstood, with common myths suggesting that the outcomes are career-ending, the process is solely about scientific accuracy, and that any error is unacceptable. In reality, the focus is on rehabilitation, prevention of future issues, and transparency. Researchers should not fear the process. Understanding these misconceptions helps foster a more supportive and responsible research environment across diverse fields

Dr. Davis is an assistant professor at the University of Delaware in the Department of Geography and Spatial Sciences and the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences and a resident faculty member at the UD Data Science Institute. His current research focuses on food systems, water sustainability, and global environmental change and combines environmental, economic, and social considerations with direct stakeholder engagement. The broader impacts of his work include informing agricultural decision-making and improving nutrition, environmental sustainability, and climate adaptation strategies.

Opening Remarks: Welcome from Penn State Global

Stable nitrogen isotope analysis of amino acid enantiomers by Orbitrap mass spectrometry: application for extraterrestrial samples  

Availability of data from massive sensor deployment in the cyber-physical electric grid enables new monitoring and control applications.  Advancement in artificial intelligence provides an opportunity to develop data-driven techniques utilizing these datasets. Some possible applications include early alarm and diagnosis, predictive analysis, and distributed and decentralized control. New applications need to consider physics-induced limits and high-performance requirements in a dynamic environment.

Kristina Brant and Justine Lindemann (faculty in the rural sociology program in the College of Agricultural Sciences) are hosting a symposium Nov. 7-8 that will convene community organizations, researchers, and extension professionals to grapple with challenges and barriers to innovative, equitable, and liberatory partnerships serving historically underserved populations. The symposium will take a special focus on using agrifood interventions and innovations as a tool to promote community transformation and resilience, but we welcome those working outside of the agrifood space.

Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics presents Dr. David Hughes, Penn State

Kristina Brant and Justine Lindemann (faculty in the rural sociology program in the College of Agricultural Sciences) are hosting a symposium Nov. 7-8 that will convene community organizations, researchers, and extension professionals to grapple with challenges and barriers to innovative, equitable, and liberatory partnerships serving historically underserved populations. The symposium will take a special focus on using agrifood interventions and innovations as a tool to promote community transformation and resilience, but we welcome those working outside of the agrifood space.

Gene Myers, owner and chief sustainability officer of Thrive Home Builders, will deliver the 2024 Hankin Distinguished Lecture, hosted by the residential construction program and the Pennsylvania Housing Research Center, which is housed in Penn State’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. His talk, “A Homebuilder’s Journey to Carbon Neutral Construction,” will be held at 4 p.m. on Nov. 6 in Robb Hall in the Hintz Family Alumni Center at University Park. A reception will follow the free, public event.

The vapor growth of ice crystals at cirrus temperatures is complex and few growth time-series measurements have been achieved. At present, even the primary growth mode of crystals at low temperatures is not  known. I will present ice crystal growth measurements at temperatures below -40C taken by our group with in diffusion chambers. Measurements show that the growth of small (10 to 50 micron) ice crystals is often, but not always, limited by attachment kinetics at low supersaturation.

This talk will examine the global effects of droughts on economic activity, proxied by remote-sensed nighttime lights data. Olmstead uses two different, comprehensive indices of drought severity, one remote-sensed and one constructed from ground-sensed meteorological data, contributing to a literature on climate extremes that has previously focused on precipitation, rather than drought. Results suggest that moderate-or-worse droughts in the current year reduce luminosity by about 1 percent, with smaller but statistically significant impacts under even mild and incipient drought conditions.

Climate-induced wildfires, weather extremes, droughts, and floods add urgency to the project of accelerating the clean energy transition from fossil fuels to zero-carbon energy infrastructure. Yet the hurdles to accomplishing such a massive industrial-scale transition are daunting. Indeed, large renewable energy generation projects regularly face denials or project-killing delays across the United States.

Presenter Mohammad Rezaee, Dept. of Energy and Mineral Engineering

The Stuckeman School will host civil engineer and transportation visionary Ian Lockwood Oct. 30-31 as part of the Department of Landscape Architecture’s ongoing studio course that explores alternative options for a proposed Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) super highway through the local Penns-Brush Valley area.