Past Events: Penn State Energy and Environment Calendar Archive

The Dive Deeper Summit is a multi-state environmental education summit spotlighting innovative teaching about water. This biennial conference is for anyone who teaches youth about water, or anyone interested in educational tools and resources for teaching about water.

The Dive Deeper Summit is a multi-state environmental education summit spotlighting innovative teaching about water. This biennial conference is for anyone who teaches youth about water, or anyone interested in educational tools and resources for teaching about water.

Insects are the most diverse and successful creatures on Earth. There are more than 10 quintillion insects on the globe. All these bugs! How can they be so successful? Insects are so resilient – they reproduce quickly, and they transform and adapt to their environment. Humans have been inventing and using pesticides to control insect pests that damage crops, or spread disease; however, insects have evolved robust capabilities to fight back. Our scientist will share their research and the questions they are exploring about how insects, specifically potato beetles are thriving.

Mark Dyreson, the 2022 recipient of the Pauline Schmitt Russell Distinguished Research Achievement Award, will present "The Curious Case of the Rarámuri Foot-Runners: Unlikely Avatars of Modern Health and Wellness."

Mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) are the dominant rainfall producer in the U.S. during the warm season, causing natural disasters and severe weather every year. GCMs have large uncertainty in modeling the MCS life cycle and projecting its future precipitation changes, highlighting an urgent need for a better understanding of MCS dynamics. In this talk, I will introduce two theoretical frameworks that we developed recently to isolate the bare-bone mechanisms for MCS initiation, intensification, and propagation.

Neha Khanna studies the effects of exposure to noise pollution. Noise pollution is defined as unwanted or excessive sound, which can trigger the human stress response system which, in turn, induces cognitive impairment in children and interferes with sleep causing mental fatigue and poor mental health outcomes. Mental illness is costly to society and imposes a multi-billion dollar burden on the U.S. economy each year through poor educational outcomes for children and productivity and earning penalties for adults.

Learn from an expert during this informative webinar about the truths and myths of microbiological contamination in well water!

Forests of Central Appalachia are an important part of the region’s landscape, providing a range of economic, cultural benefits, ecological, and ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration. The region has the potential to contribute to national and global efforts to mitigate climate change through carbon programs and markets.

Alicia (Cici) Cruz-Uribe, University of Maine, AWG Distinguished Lecturer. Her research focuses on metamorphic petrology and geochemistry, particularly of subduction zone rocks. Some of the overarching questions she pursues include: How does subduction zone metamorphism influence arc magmatism? How do the physical processes occurring at the slab-mantle interface impact the mantle wedge and overlying arc structure? What are the spatial and temporal scales of equilibrium in metamorphic rocks?

How to Prepare a Successful Seed Grant Proposal: This webinar will discuss elements of an ideal seed grant proposal, how they are reviewed, and address any questions that individuals have about the overall process. Recording: https://iee.psu.edu/funding/seed-grant-program/2024#seed-grant-webinar

Rachael Bay, Assistant Professor in Evolution and Ecology at UC Davis, will be presenting talk titled: "Climate adaptation in marine foundation species."

This talk will demonstrate some strategies for determining the structure and composition of organic thin films (less than 100 nm) with an emphasis on vibrational spectroscopy (FT-IR and Raman) and other select techniques such as AFM-IR and XPS. The pros, cons, and sampling considerations for each technique will be demonstrated using various examples from work performed in MCL and literature. The influence of film thickness, substrate type, and information needed on the decision of which analytical technique(s) to use will also be discussed.

Penn State and Monash University (in Melbourne, Australia) share some important characteristics: our intellectual culture and our research strengths are very well aligned. Penn State and Monash are now official partners, with a Memorandum of Understanding having been signed last September by President Neeli Bendapudi and Monash President Margaret Gardner (a good question to ask will be “where is Margaret now?”). This partnership opens up a world of opportunities for researchers at both universities.

The International Atomic Energy Agency defines nuclear forensics as …the examination of nuclear or other radioactive material, or of evidence that is contaminated (or comingled) with radionuclides, in the context of legal proceedings under international or national laws related to nuclear security. Historically, isotopic analyses of uranium and plutonium have been relied upon to provide key insights into the reactor or enrichment operations used to create special nuclear materials found outside of regulatory control (MORC).

Forests of Central Appalachia are an important part of the region’s landscape, providing a range of economic, cultural benefits, ecological, and ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration. The region has the potential to contribute to national and global efforts to mitigate climate change through carbon programs and markets.

Forests of Central Appalachia are an important part of the region’s landscape, providing a range of economic, cultural benefits, ecological, and ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration. The region has the potential to contribute to national and global efforts to mitigate climate change through carbon programs and markets.

The Adaption-Innovation Theory and Community Planning webinar is a dynamic and interactive program designed to empower community leaders, planners, and developers with the essential knowledge and skills to foster sustainable development and address the ever-evolving needs of their communities. This workshop offers a comprehensive exploration of the Adaption-Innovation Theory, a groundbreaking framework developed by Dr. Michael Kirton, which examines individual and collective problem-solving approaches.

2023 Women Advancing River Research Seminar Series Confronting the Ghosts of Nutrients Past, Present, and Future in Water Quality Management Kim Van Meter, Penn State (U.S.) Jana Compton, Environmental Protection Agency (U.S.)

Join the Sustainability Institute for the second film in our 2023-24 Intersections film program and the first film in this year’s sub-strand of programming entitled From Anxiety to Action, exploring ways people are moving beyond climate paralysis into meaningful action to affect the future.

This Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) program provides a yearly cohort of 12 graduate students with funding for travel, lodging, and leadership and professional development training to support a one-to-six-month research internship abroad. During the global experience, students will collaborate with experts and local communities to address complex sustainability challenges associated with interconnected water-energy-food systems. All majors are welcome to apply.