Ezgi Toraman named rising star in chemical engineering
| psu.edu
Hilal Ezgi Toraman, assistant professor of energy and mineral engineering and of chemical engineering at Penn State, is one of five faculty to be recognized as a rising star in chemical engineering by the journal ACS Engineering Au for her work developing fundamental research on the utilization of pyrolysis — a chemical recycling process that heats plastic waste in an oxygen-free environment to turn it into valuable fuels, chemicals and new plastic feedstock.
Kaye honored with Graduate Program Chair Leadership Award
| psu.edu
Jason Kaye, distinguished professor of soil biogeochemistry in the College of Agricultural Sciences and chair of the Ecology Intercollege Graduate Degree Program, is the 2026 recipient of the Graduate School Alumni Society Graduate Program Chair Leadership Award.
Global Teach Ag Network faculty and staff honored with Penn State Global awards
| psu.edu
Two members of Penn State’s Global Teach Ag Network have been recognized with awards from Penn State Global in recognition of their efforts to advance the University's global engagement goals.
Six seed funding opportunities to support Commonwealth Campus faculty research
| psu.edu
Faculty at Penn State’s Commonwealth Campuses are invited to apply for six seed funding programs designed to support research, foster collaboration and advance projects across campuses. Offered through the Office of the Vice President for Commonwealth Campuses, the programs support a range of priorities, including early-stage and mid-career research and professional development, mentorship, community impact, industry partnerships and undergraduate research engagement.
April 15 talk: Effect of renewable diesel on air quality
| psu.edu
Gabriel Lade, an associate professor and C. William Swank Chair in Rural-Urban Policy at Ohio State University, will give the talk, “Does Renewable Diesel Clean the Air? Evidence from California Highways,” at noon on Wednesday, April 15, in 157 Hosler Building on Penn State's University Park campus. The talk is free and open to the public.
EMS faculty member co-chairs critical minerals session to foster US-Africa link
| psu.edu
Nelson Dzade, assistant professor of energy and mineral engineering and chair of the undergraduate energy engineering program, recently co-chaired the critical minerals and materials session at the annual National Academies U.S.-Africa Frontiers of Science, Engineering, and Medicine Symposium, held this past February in Dakar, Senegal.
Landscape architecture faculty recognized at international conference
| psu.edu
Several landscape architecture faculty members and one graduate student from the College of Arts and Architecture’s Stuckeman School at Penn State were recently recognized at the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture 2026 annual conference in Cincinnati.
Four Penn State faculty members elected AAAS Fellows
| psu.edu
Four Penn State faculty members in the biological sciences, engineering and statistics have been elected to the latest cohort of fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science.
New software could cut cooling energy use by 25% in data centers
| psu.edu
Penn State researchers developed artificial intelligence-powered software to dynamically adjust data centers’ power usage to peak when the weather is favorable and electricity is affordable. They plan to present their work at the IEEE ITherm conference in May and integrate the software in a Harrisburg-based data center later this year.
Bay in the Balance explores agriculture as a solution to restore Chesapeake Bay
| psu.edu
Hosted by Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, the Bay in the Balance conference brought together stakeholders from across the Chesapeake Bay watershed to explore solutions that support both productive agriculture and the water quality goals of the nation’s largest estuary.
Penn State seeking proposals for the next phase of Presidential Public Impact Research Awards
| psu.edu
Penn State is launching the next phase of its Presidential Public Impact Research Awards, which supports faculty–student research teams across Commonwealth Campuses to address challenges across Pennsylvania.
Coffee Hour talk to explore gentrification, migration and labor in rural America
| psu.edu
Lise Nelson, professor in the School of Geography, Development and Environment at the University of Arizona, will present at the Department of Geography’s Coffee Hour lecture series at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, April 17, in 112 Walker Building.