Past Events: Penn State Energy and Environment Calendar Archive

Santiago Ramírez, UC Davis

Daniel Giammar, Walter E. Browne Professor of Environmental Engineering in the Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Washington University   

Fall is here, which means that the gardening season is coming to a close. Come to the Student Farm’s virtual lunchtime panel where you can learn all about putting your garden to bed for the winter! Whether you are a seasoned gardener or recently picked up gardening as a hobby, you are welcome at this event where the panel will discuss methods for ensuring that your garden is ready for planting in the spring.    

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a leading mode of seasonal climate variability over the globe.

Temperature shocks to one country affect all economically-linked countries in a contagion-like process. In this paper we develop a dynamic spatial general equilibrium trade model with weather shocks to productivity growth. We show how to identify both the direct own-country effect, and contagion effect on other countries using simple fixed effects estimators. Our empirical results indicate that a 1 standard deviation global temperature shock reduces income growth by 4 percentage points, and that contagion accounts for over half of the temperature-caused income growth reductions.

Fall 2020 ESSC Brown Bag Series with Joseph Clark, Meteorology and Atmospheric Science, Penn State To maintain social distancing as much as possible during the novel coronavirus pandemic, seminars will be conducted via Zoom this semester. A hyperlink to the Zoom meeting for each seminar is given in the schedule below in the row corresponding to that seminar. Unless otherwise noted, all seminars are from 11:15am - 12:30pm Zoom link: https://psu.zoom.us/j/93188753121

Dr. Shirley M. Malcom is the Director of Education and Human Resources Programs at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world's largest general science organization. Malcom received her B.S. at the University of Washington and M.S. at the University of California, Los Angeles both for zoology. In 1974, she would go on to receive her Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University in ecology.

Scott Wing, Smithsonian Institution will present "The effect of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum on a continental interior ecosystem" Zoom link: https://psu.zoom.us/j/95676460061

Seminar: Multiple forms of volatile organic compound-mediated interaction between Trichoderma and pathogens, a novel chemical ecology process likely playing crucial roles in biocontrol

Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics with Justin Silverman, Assistant Profefssor of Information Sciences and Technology, Penn State

Insurance and reinsurance are useful mechanisms for managing the risks associated with natural hazards. Projections of the future frequency and severity of these hazards can be generated from computational models, and the rapid development of such models has led some to advocate greater use of them in the insurance industry.

Two high-impact weather phenomena form regularly in the Indian Ocean basin: tropical cyclones (TCs), and the convectively-active component of the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO). The MJO is one of the key seasonal modulators of precipitation for the equatorial Indian Ocean, Maritime Continent, and the west Pacific Ocean. Although less frequent than the other tropical cyclone basins of the world, the impacts of TCs making landfall in this region are legendary, given the highly populous countries that ring the basin. 

The Center for the Business of Sustainability's next sustainability research seminar features Karen Winterich, Professor of Marketing, Frank and Mary Smeal Research Fellow. Join us as we hear from Karen Winterich on the Price Entitlement Effect: When and Why Consumers Purchase High-Priced Products with Negative Social Impact.

One major challenge for improving environmental quality in developing countries is the enforcement of environmental regulations. There are different enforcement instruments available to environmental agencies and it is still not well understood how effective these instruments are in developing countries. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of regulatory sanctions – monetary fines, temporary suspension of production, rectification, and long-term factory shutdown – in changing a non-compliant firm’ environmental spending and emissions.

Department of Geosciences Colloquium: Variations in Radar Emissivity on Venus Highlands by Martha Gilmore, Planetary Geologist and Professor, Earth & Environmental Sciences, Wesleyan University

As a complex ecosystem, the soil maintains both beneficial and pathogenic microorganisms that coexist in balance with their hosts. When the conditions are conducive, soilborne pathogens proliferate, causing damage and impacting the quality and yield of crop plant species. The most common oomycetes and fungi associated with soilborne diseases belong to the genera Pythium, Phytophthora, Fusarium, and Rhizoctonia. However, some conditions can favor the growth of non-traditional pathogens, promoting the emergence of new diseases.

Artificial intelligence is affecting society worldwide, from improving medical diagnostic tools, to bolstering supply chains and refining weather forecasting, along with many more applications. Closer to home, Penn State researchers are also leveraging AI techniques in their work to advance their science.

The 6th High-Level Industry-Science-Government Dialogue on Atlantic Interactions. AIR Centre Theme Sessions: Innovation for Sustainable Marine Development and the Blue Economy. Join us for five days of inspiring discussion and strategic cooperation to address inclusive ocean economies in the Atlantic region and advance UN Sustainable Development Goals across space, atmosphere, ocean, climate, energy, and data science. The first day will focus on a ministerial meeting to address post-pandemic economic recovery:

The goal of these sessions is for participants to review the Climate Consortium Proposal Draft and join Erica Smithwick for discussion and input.  Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020, 8:30-9:30 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30,2020, 8:30-9:30 a.m. Friday, Oct. 2, 2020, 2-3 p.m. Attendees must register to attend one of the sessions. Each session will be the same format. Attendees only need to attend one of the three sessions.

Each session will be the same format - attend one or all. Registered attendees will receive a confirmation to attend and a link to download the draft Climate Consortium proposal.