Past Events: Penn State Energy and Environment Calendar Archive

Abstract: Thresholds of sediment motion are integral to bedload transport estimates, which inform calculations of aquatic habitat, reservoir sedimentation, channel form and stability, and landscape evolution.

Allison Fox, NASA Johnson Space Center, presents "Are There Organics Afoot? Searching for Signs of Life with SHERLOC on the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover" as part of the ​Department of Geosciences Colloquium Series.

Water Insights is an interdisciplinary seminar series on water science, water management, and water policy sponsored by the Institute for Sustainable Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Science (SAFES). Speakers include researchers, water managers, and water policy makers from Penn State, other universities, government agencies and non-governmental organizations.

As part of the Baltic Sea Science Congress (BSSC), this workshop offers an opportunity to compare what is happening in the Baltic Sea and the Chesapeake Bay with a focus on four areas: nutrients, climate impacts, fishing and living resources, and governance.

The water-energy-food (WEF) nexus is a useful framework for addressing complex transdisciplinary natural resource and environmental challenges in integrated, innovative ways. This webinar series explores using and operationalizing WEF nexus approaches for finding solutions to these challenges. The series focuses on examples and solutions by linking and using WEF nexus approaches to timely interventions, technologies and issues of importance, especially in the context of COVID-19 and climate change.

Melissa Lee will give the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences’ 2021 Lattman Visiting Scholar of Science and Society Lecture. Her talk, “Training the Next Generation Workforce for a Sustainable Future,” will be held at 5 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 18, in 26 Hosler Building on the University Park campus. The event is free and open to the public. Lee is the founder and CEO of The GREEN Program (TGP). She founded the program in 2009 when she was a student at Rutgers University-New Brunswick.

Abstract: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a rapidly advancing field. Novel machine learning methods combined with reasoning and search techniques have led us to reach new milestones: from computer vision, machine translation, and Go world-champion level play, to self-driving cars. These ever-expanding AI capabilities open up new exciting avenues for advances in new domains. I will discuss our AI research for advancing scientific discovery for a sustainable future.

The United States has been a world leader in science and engineering for the last seven decades. The nation’s successes in these fields have been driven largely by federally funded fundamental research performed at colleges and universities. Today, other nations, especially China, are investing just as much or more money into research and development, and if current trends continue, China may invest $200 billion a year more in R&D than the U.S. by 2030.

Penn State Graduate Students:  The Cornell Biogeochemistry Lecture Series Watch Parties will be held in the Millennium Science Complex Room W203. Attendees will learn about the earth's biogeochemical cycling by world experts and will hear about some of the most pressing biogeochemical questions across terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

In this seminar the speaker will summarize the impact that greenhouse gas emissions have on the earth’s climate and the major transitions that must take place in both energy demand/supply and CO2 capture to meet a carbon net-zero target by 2050. DNV’s projections for the world and for China, Europe and North America will be used to illustrate the transition. During the discussion the speaker will ask the audience to suggest how the university curricula could change to meet the needs of those energy specialists who will drive the necessary transitions.  

Planning and managing the green infrastructure of street trees, parks, and open spaces will help any municipality safely take advantage of the many benefits these assets provide. With proper planning and management, these assets appreciate and pay us back with time.

How fast can the U.S. energy infrastructure decarbonize to 50% and then to 0%, and will planned infrastructure changes help to achieve a carbon-negative energy system? 

In March 2020, SAFES launched the “Impacts of COVID-19 on Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Systems” Seed Grant. PIs and team members from these innovative projects will provide brief updates on the outcomes and further research directions.      ● Twitter/Google Trends Analysis of Food Security Under COVID-19 (Stephan Goetz, PI)      ● Rapid Reduction of Farm Milk Production in Response to Crisis (Chad Dechow, PI)

The majority of research literature on chemical separations focuses on a relatively small collection of chemicals. In many ways this is appropriate because of the dramatic economic and environmental impacts of these species. The space of possible chemicals, however is vast; Carl Sagan's famous "billions and billions" is many orders of magnitude too small for chemical space. I will discuss steps towards methods that may eventually allow rapid development of adsorbent-based separations for a diverse range of molecules drawn from a broad chemical space.

Join us for the second film in the 2021-22 Driving It Home film series, part of the Sustainability Institute’s Intersections film series. Penn State Anthropologist Kirk French’s Land and Water Revisited returns to footage taken in México’s Teotihuacán Valley 50 years ago by renowned archaeologist William T. Sanders.

Atmospheric composition is affected by emissions from multiple sources at different spatial and temporal scales. Traditional methods for quantifying these emissions rely on surface-based survey or observation data, and the results are often called “bottom-up” estimates. In contrast, in part driven by the routine measurements of atmospheric states and surface properties from space, satellite data is now increasingly used to constrain emissions; these so-called “top-down” estimates have several advantages when it comes to spatial coverage and timely updates.

Professor Aydin Alptekinoglu will present his work,"Is Adopting Mass Customization a Path to Environmentally Sustainable Fashion?" as part of the Center for the Business of Sustainability Research Seminar Series. Registration is required. To attend, please contact Tracey Mariner for registration information: tcd119@psu.edu.

Building envelopes have always had the challenging task to support a fairly static indoor thermal and visual environment while dealing with a wide range of dynamic outdoor conditions. In this talk, we’ll look at advances in materials, design, and construction of opaque and transparent envelopes and their impact on humans, energy consumption, and stability of the electrical grid.

Join us for Water Webinar Series: Groundwater Basics for Private Well and Spring Owners, which will provide a look into the groundwater resources that sustain private wells and springs, and land management practices that reduce contamination risks. About the Series

Planning and managing the green infrastructure of street trees, parks, and open spaces will help any municipality safely take advantage of the many benefits these assets provide. With proper planning and management, these assets appreciate and pay us back with time.