Past Events: Penn State Energy and Environment Calendar Archive

Mass manufacturing and our ability to produce goods quickly and efficiently via a linear economy has led to rapidly depleting natural resources and a host of environmental problems. The National Institute of Standards & Technologies (NIST) supports the nation’s transition from a conventional ‘take, make, use, dispose’ linear economy to a ‘take, make, use, return’ circular economy (CE) via research in measurement science that facilitates the development of suitable technical standards.

In 1968 she enrolled for a medical degree at the University of Natal, where she became involved in the South African Students Association (SASO) and was a founder, with Steve Biko, of the Black Consciousness Movement.  In 1976 she was detained under the Terrorism Act, and from 1977 to 1983 she was banned to Tzaneen in the Northern Transvaal.

Department of Geosciences Colloquium Series Fall 2023 Christelle Wauthier Penn State University Unveiling Nature's Slide Show: Characterizing Volcanic Landslide Behavior

Dr. Mamphela Ramphele is a South African politician, anti-apartheid activist, medical doctor, and businesswoman. She is a leading voice on issues of social justice, economic development, and gender equality. She is a powerful advocate for the poor and marginalized and a tireless champion of change. She is an inspiration to people all over the world who are working to build a better future. Ramphele is a recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the Order of Mapungubwe, the highest civilian award in South Africa.

Annie Nigra, who does work on drinking water quality and environmental exposures, will present a talk at the Population Research Institute.  

Whether during initial development of a device, in the scale up for manufacturing, or during an established manufacturing process, engineers often need to address thin film adhesion failures.  This talk will highlight some of the methods available within the Nanofab and MCL to characterize adhesion failures and thus help identify the necessary process modifications required to increase device quality and/or reproducibility.  We will use an example of a failure that occurred at a metal contact layer on a passivation oxide to walk through the testing decisions that lead to an understanding of

Throughout October one of the two talks at the Millennium Café each week will provide a unique perspective on atmospheric particulates. 

Physics-based models and purely data-driven machine learning models each have significant benefits and limitations.  A new pathway, differentiable modelling, combines the two methods and pushes the boundary of physics-informed machine learning.  I will use some examples from water resource research to demonstrate advantages of this combined approach where we have mitigated the limitations of each method, more reliably predicted geohazards like floods, and discovered previously unrecognized physical relationships.

A growing body of literature has demonstrated that secondary metabolites produced by food and medicinal plants can exert both positive and negative effects on human health. The relationship between plants and human health is complex and is influenced by factors including plant genetics, plant growth environment, production and post-harvest processing practices, and consumer genetics and lifestyle factors.

Registration is now open for Penn State Cancer Institute’s sixth annual Cancer Research Day, to be held 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 7, in the Animal, Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences Building on the University Park campus. Interested individuals can register here.

The week's events will feature daily webinars, each featuring subject matter experts followed by an open question & answer discussion providing folks the opportunity to share their questions and receive feedback in real-time. For any questions, please contact the GreenGov Council at ra-gsgreengov@pa.gov. 2023 Commonwealth Sustainability Week Kickoff – Sustainability Leadership Monday, 10/2 @ 1:00 PM

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. The informal setup for the “Water Cooler Series” will provide students a platform to discuss brewing ideas about water-related research and get help/support from the peer group. The presentation need not be research focused. If you have some interesting field anecdotes or stories to share, this is the forum for you! 

The week's events will feature daily webinars, each featuring subject matter experts followed by an open question & answer discussion providing folks the opportunity to share their questions and receive feedback in real-time. For any questions, please contact the GreenGov Council at ra-gsgreengov@pa.gov. 2023 Commonwealth Sustainability Week Kickoff – Sustainability Leadership Monday, 10/2 @ 1:00 PM

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.

Traditional numerical weather prediction (NWP) models have made remarkable progress over the past few decades. Yet, as we inch closer to the limits of deterministic forecasting, there remains a growing need for innovative techniques to enhance forecast accuracy. Enter machine learning (ML) — a subset of artificial intelligence that is causing a paradigm shift in meteorological forecasting. This presentation offers a comprehensive overview of the latest advancements in the application of machine learning at Tomorrow.io across the weather forecasting value chain.

Recording Description Researchers must be good communicators to be successful.

Septic systems are integral components for managing domestic wastewater in communities not connected to public sewer lines. This webinar will discuss the care and maintenance of on-lot septic systems as part of a larger strategy to protect your private water supply systems, such as wells and springs. This event is being offered at no charge to participants. Registration is required to receive the link to access the webinar. Registrants will also receive access to the webinar recording.

The week's events will feature daily webinars, each featuring subject matter experts followed by an open question & answer discussion providing folks the opportunity to share their questions and receive feedback in real-time. For any questions, please contact the GreenGov Council at ra-gsgreengov@pa.gov. 2023 Commonwealth Sustainability Week Kickoff – Sustainability Leadership Monday, 10/2 @ 1:00 PM

Demographers, demography, and demographic methodologies can be crucial partners in the next wave of vital research on the human and ecological dynamics associated with the pressures of climate change. Demography is one of the few social sciences with well-elaborated conceptual and methodological tools for incorporating social systems approaches into environmental systems research which can then inform environment and climate policy and programs. Drawing on her expertise, Dr. Curran will discuss current and future research to catalyze next generation, scientific innovations. The Lecture is free and open to everyone. Registration is required.

Department of Geosciences Colloquium Series Fall 2023 Greg Hirth Brown University The rheology of the interface between the mantle wedge and the subducting slab: considering the roles of fluid pressure, composition, and deformation mechanism