Past Events: Penn State Energy and Environment Calendar Archive

Buildings contribute to 50% of global material use and are the largest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (~40%). Single-family houses are responsible for the highest share of GHG emissions attributed to the building sector in the United States. Passive House can maximize the energy efficiency of residential buildings via passive design strategies: wall insulation to improve thermal properties of the building envelope; geometric parameters; building orientation; ventilation; and air tightness.

The Penn State Association of Water Students (PAWS) is an organization dedicated to bridging the gaps among the disciplines and providing a forum for students interested in water-related research across disciplines. The Water Cooler Series is a monthly event for the water student community planned to bring the community together and share interesting research/ideas/plans with peers from different disciplines and backgrounds.  September's featured speaker is Marissa Kopp who will present on "Shale Hills: Water Opportunities at a Long-Term Observatory"

Zonal jets are a ubiquitous feature of planetary atmospheres, with all Solar System planetary atmospheres having strong zonal jets in their atmosphere. The zonal jets in the solar system vary in their characteristics between the planets. In addition to the Solar System's planets, in recent decades thousands of exoplanets were confirmed and motivated the study of the climate dependence on planetary parameters. In this talk, I will start with some motivation and overview of the observed zonal jets in and outside the Solar System.

Ram Fishman studies the long-term impact of large-scale irrigation infrastructure on the composition of local economic activity in India. His analysis uses high-resolution spatial data covering approximately 150,000 villages and towns and exploits spatial discontinuities in the coverage of irrigation projects. Irrigation increases agricultural output, wealth, and population density in rural villages. However, in towns it reduces population and nightlight density, the size of the non- agricultural sector, and large-firm activity.

There’s no better time to join the environmental field, especially here in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Whether you’re interested in science, project management, policy, communications, or something else, there are numerous organizations looking for passionate and talented professionals. Join us for a webinar about the different career programs available for college students or recent graduates, including the Chesapeake Conservation and Climate Corps, the Environmental Management Staffer Program, C-StREAM Internship Program and the Young Professionals of Color Program.

Department of Geosciences Colloquium Series Fall 2023

Humans are colonized by highly diverse communities of microbes which shape our health. While diversity is correlated with health, it is often not clear why. This Bisanz lab uses lab-built microbial communities and germ-free animal models to understand the mechanisms through which diverse microbes interact with each other and the host. We seek to conduct mechanistic research with real world applications.

I will highlight recent advances in our group in the engineering of functional, topographically-, and chemically-patterned polymer coatings via light-mediated surface-initiated polymerization. Oxygen tolerance, mild reaction conditions, and the use of visible light make this approach user-friendly in its application for the design of e.g., anti-microbial surfaces, anti-fogging coatings, and organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs).

Join the Sustainability Institute in kicking off our 2023-24 Intersections film series (and the Landscapes of Labor sub-strand within the film series), with our series opener — the classic 1940 Grapes of Wrath.

Operational forecast centers routinely use numerical models to predict various components of the Earth system, ranging from the geosphere to the atmosphere. Despite the diversity in applications, these models share two common characteristics: (1) they generally rely on physical laws to govern the time-rate-of change of prognostic state variables and (2) “data assimilation” guides how environmental measurements inform estimates of initial conditions, boundary conditions, or unknown model parameters.

Energy and Environmental Economics and Policy Initiative (EEEPI) Seminar Abstract: An introduction of China’s Dual Carbon goals and challenges facing China in the process of achieving these goals. Xu he will provide a review and comparison of several major economic policy tools which can induce behavior changes in producers and consumers to achieve sustained carbon reduction. Finally, he will discuss potentials of the nature-based solution to achieve carbon neutrality, as well as the needs for institutional and policy reform in China.

Alaska walleye pollock is the second-largest fishery in the world. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) manages the fishery in U.S. waters. Every summer, NOAA conducts targeted acoustic surveys and trawling in the North Pacific Ocean to determine the abundance and distribution of walleye pollock. The data informs stock assessment and management models to ensure a sustainable fishery. Our speaker recently sailed on the NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson in the Gulf of Alaska and will share the importance of pollock fisheries and how science is conducted at sea.

Rare earth elements are a group of 17 metals with very similar sizes but unique roles in technologies that are essential for a clean-energy future.  As a result, efficiently separating one from another is a long-standing challenge and a modern imperative.  In this talk, I will describe some of the fundamental insights that natural rare-earth-binding proteins have yielded into how to differentiate between these very similar elements.

The Energy and Environmental Sustainability Laboratories (EESL) is a University-wide core user facility managed by the Institutes of Energy and the Environment. Emerging contaminants of varied types are pervasive in the modern world and this talk will introduce the expertise and capabilities available within EESL. Past and current projects involving per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) analyses will be used to highlight the lab’s capabilities.

Department of Geosciences Colloquium Series Fall 2023 Amanda Hendrix Planetary Science Institute Host: Chris House "Water - in Various Forms - on Planetary Surfaces: Spectral Clues"

How plants construct strong, flexible cell walls has been a longstanding mystery in plant biology, and the use of plant cell walls for the sustainable production of food, biomaterials, and bioenergy can benefit from a deeper understanding of their construction, architecture, and degradation. We collaboratively apply advanced microscopy in combination with molecular genetics and biochemistry to dissect the dynamics of plant cell walls.

Julie Michelle Klinger, assistant professor of geography and spatial science at the University of Delaware, will kick off the Penn State Department of Geography’ fall 2023 "Coffee Hour" lecture series with the talk, “Wasting and wanting: an extractive supply chain approach to outer space geographies.”  Klinger will discuss how waste plays a big role in modern space activities by presenting a conceptual architecture and also reflexively examining the potential epistemic violence of waste-making as a spatial analytic to link Earthly and outer-space geographies.

Participants of Renewable Energy Academy: Energy Policies and Programs will be able to identify policies and programs relevant to farm and rural energy projects, develop a strategy for utilizing the opportunities represented by those policies and programs, and identify the next steps for taking action.

Learn about photovoltaic electrical generation, the expected effects of the Inflation Reduction Act on solar development in Pennsylvania, and more. The Solar Law Symposium is aimed at individuals with a basic to intermediate understanding of photovoltaic electrical generation for the grid. The event is designed to expand on the information presented at last year's Solar Law Symposium while offering an introductory session for newcomers to participate. Available Credits

Enjoy an evening out at Alecraft Brewery for the Tap Talk: Agricultural Sustainability and Reforestation in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Jim Kauffman, Forest Programs Manager, and Mauricio Rosales, Senior Agriculture Programs Manager from the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, will introduce participants to agricultural sustainability practices and partnerships and the benefits of planting riparian forest buffers to help restore the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.