Past Events: Penn State Energy and Environment Calendar Archive

Over the last few years Project Drawdown has used peer-reviewed research to assess the costs and impact of over 80 solutions to reverse global warming. This research has demonstrated that solutions exist, they are here today, and they have positive impacts beyond their climate benefits – a positive and hopeful message that has attracted attention worldwide. The portfolio of solutions is broad and sometimes surprising, including not just energy, buildings and transportation and energy but also chemicals and materials, food systems and land use, empowering women and educating girls.

In most watersheds, as withdrawals for human needs increase, the ecological services provided by the same water are in decline. At a certain point, the value of water provided for human use is equal to the value of the ecological services, and beyond this point, ecological disruptions exceed the benefits of increased water extraction; this point is referred to as “peak ecological water." In addition, the human and ecological benefits may occur at different spatial and temporal scales.

Understanding the behavioral outputs of complex signals between organisms Dr. Anne Leonard, University of Nevada, Reno March 15, 2019 @ 02:30 pm to 03:30 pm 133 Food Science Building University Park Ecology Spring Seminar Series 2019 “Behave like an Ecologist: Research Exploring Behavioral Ecology” Fridays 2:30-3:30

How Penn State faculty members and researchers can take advantage of a national consortium called the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit Network will be the focus of a meeting hosted by the Institutes of Energy and the Environment. 10 a.m. Thursday, March 14 233B HUB-Robeson Center Please register for the meeting.

On behalf of the Institutes for Energy and the Environment and the Radiocarbon Laboratory of the Energy and Environmental Sustainability Laboratories, we would like to invite you to the Penn State Radiocarbon Dating Workshop. The workshop is aimed at current and potential users of radiocarbon measurement and dating in the historical and earth sciences. Active researchers of all levels of familiarity with radiocarbon work are encouraged to attend.

Presenter: Lauren McPhillips, Assistant Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering and Agricultural and Biological Engineering

The Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) Modeling System is a comprehensive state-of-the-science air pollution modeling system that is widely used worldwide to study local to hemispheric air pollution issues and guide development of air pollution abatement strategies. For over two decades, EPA and states have used CMAQ to support air quality management. CMAQ is continually updated to incorporate knowledge on the state of the science and harness increased computing power in order to more effectively and efficiently characterize air quality and protect human health.

African-American undergraduate and graduate students at Penn State who previously have presented research posters at symposiums will present their posters at a Research Symposium and Reception hosted by the Alliance for Education, Science, Engineering and Development in Africa (AESEDA) in honor of Black History Month. The symposium and reception will be held from 2-4 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 27, in the Alumni Fireside Lounge of The Nittany Lion Inn on the University Park campus. Students, staff and faculty from all colleges University-wide are invited and welcome to attend.

This comprehensive workshop can help landowners better understand their royalty payments and management.

The Acid Rain Program (ARP) cut sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions from coal-fired power plants in the Midwest and Eastern United States. The ARP likely benefitted the economy in several ways, including improved human health and a reduction in environ- mental damages from “acid rain”. However, decreased ambient SO2 negatively affected the agricultural sector by shifting the abundance of sulfur, an important nutrient in crop production.

EPA's Office of Research and Development and Office of Water host this monthly webinar series to communicate current small drinking water systems research along with Agency priorities. This forum allows EPA to communicate directly with state personnel and others to provide training and foster collaboration and dissemination of information. This, in turn, provides state agencies with the information and resources needed to communicate the latest scientific advancements and current guidance to their small systems.

Presenter: Mumbi Kimani Water scarcity is one of the major problems facing many countries. South Africa is a water scarce country and the gap between supply and demand has been increasing. Urbanization has been on the rise, by 2017 almost two thirds of South African's lived in urban areas. This influx has seen cities like the City of Cape Town struggle to cope with increasing water demand. The recent drought in Cape Town triggered a water crisis leading to the city declaring a date “day zero” on which it would turn off the city's taps.

Humans are having an impact on our planet’s life-support systems - from the climate and oceans to land itself. The magnitude is such that scientists have claimed we are in a new geologic epoch—the Anthropocene—the age of the humans. This represents a pivotal time in both planetary and human history. In response, we must evolve our thinking and designing of industrial production-consumption systems. The most consequential shift is to what is being called the “circular economy”: biomimetic materials and processes that feed either technical or biological nutrient loops.

Sarah Gergel, Professor of Landscape Ecology & Conservation at the University of British Columbia

How novel species introduction alters various aspects of niche distribution for an individual and population Dr. Lauren Pintor, Ohio State University February 22, 2019 @ 02:30 pm to 03:30 pm 107 Forest Resources Building University Park Ecology Spring Seminar Series 2019 “Behave like an Ecologist: Research Exploring Behavioral Ecology” Fridays 2:30-3:30 ~ FRB 107

Sarah Ficken, Agriculture Educator at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Madison County Climate change presents a series of challenges that farmers must respond and adapt to in order to remain profitable. The talk will focus on how the Adaptation Workbook and other Climate Smart Farming tools can provide an important framework when thinking about a farm level response to climate change.

Penn State University College of Agricultural Sciences and Penn State Extension Farm Safety are excited to unveil our 2nd Annual Agricultural Safety Expo! Free to participants, the event will feature agricultural safety demonstrations and other displays, with opportunity for hands-on participation.

Abstract: Considerable conceptual, theoretical and empirical work has been done exploring how genetic information is used by an organism to mediate the expression of phenotypes. More precisely, how phenotypic variation maps onto genotype or genotypic variation. While the representations of both intermediate (gene expression, cellular, tissue and developmental) and adult phenotypes are often suitably complex, the abstractions for genotype usually only consider the consequences of the focal genetic change (i.e. a particular mutation).

Mort Webster, Professor of Energy Engineering, John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering gives a talk on work being done on Modeling Hydroelectric Generation for Large-Scale Regional Electricity Grid Resilience Studies: Methods and Challenges. Food and beverages will be served. Also available via Zoom: https://psu.zoom.us/j/440746219

Ecology Spring Seminar Series 2019 “Behave like an Ecologist: Research Exploring Behavioral Ecology” Fridays 2:30-3:30 in 107 Forest Resources Building On Feb 15, Dr. Jill Pruetz, Texas State University will present Environmental pressures that influence primate behavior.