Study explores how climate change may affect rain in U.S. Corn Belt
| news.psu.edu
Air humidity is more important than soil moisture in influencing whether it rains in the United States Corn Belt, an agricultural area in the Midwest that stretches from Indiana to Nebraska and is responsible for more than 35% of the world’s most important grain crop, according to a new study.
Proposals sought for faculty to develop diversity-focused online courses
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Full-time faculty are encouraged to consider submitting a request for proposal to develop and offer courses focused on diversity, equity and inclusion for the Digital Learning Cooperative during the 2022-23 academic year.
Hubert and Mary Barnes professorship established in Department of Geosciences
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The Dr. Hubert Barnes and Dr. Mary Barnes Professorship in Geosciences, funded with a $1 million gift, will support an outstanding faculty member to further their contributions in teaching, research and public service in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences.
Professor of geosciences honored with Arthur L. Day Medal
| news.psu.edu
Katherine Freeman, Evan Pugh University Professor of Geosciences in Penn State’s College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, was honored with the Arthur L. Day Medal from the Geological Society of America on Oct. 10 at the society’s annual meeting in Portland, Oregon.
NSF awards $19.9M to improve climate-risk decision-making along coastlines
| psu.edu
A grant from the National Science Foundation’s Coastlines and People Program will help to bring researchers and stakeholders together in the New York City-New Jersey-Philadelphia region to equitably support coastal communities to better manage coastal climate risks.
Engineering associate dean for equity and inclusion featured on NSF podcast
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Tonya Peeples, associate dean for equity and inclusion and professor of chemical engineering in the Penn State College of Engineering, was featured in the third episode of “Collaborative Strategies for Inclusive Change,” the official podcast of the National Science Foundation INCLUDES Coordination Hub.
Eberly College's undergraduate research exhibition a success
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On Oct. 7, the Penn State Eberly College of Science hosted the fall 2021 Undergraduate Research Poster Exhibition as part of its new Diversity in STEM Corporate Partners Program and in conjunction with the college’s celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. The exhibition featured approximately 40 student participants, from whom 10 winners were chosen in three categories, and was adjudicated by 20 Penn State faculty, postdoctoral scholars, graduate students, and staff.
Interactions with unreliable infrastructures could be key to smart city design
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Research from the College of Information Sciences and Technology found that smart city designs should consider the daily experiences of citizens or allow them to adapt their own solutions, particularly in areas with historically unreliable infrastructures.
Penn State-led team awarded $17M to study climate risk and adaptation strategies
| psu.edu
A multi-institutional research team led by Penn State has been awarded a $17 million, five-year cooperative research agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science to understand how interconnected systems are exposed to natural hazards that create vulnerabilities and risks for society and how societies respond and adapt to these risks.
YES introduces engineering to elementary and middle school youth
| news.psu.edu
Christine Cunningham believes today’s young learners can become tomorrow’s problem-solvers and engineers, if their natural creativity and curiosity about how things work is nurtured through their K-12 curriculum. She has launched Youth Engineering Solutions and has received more than $5 million in grants to help develop curricula and disseminate it nationally.
Talk to discuss ancient, deep groundwater in search for life on Earth and beyond
| news.psu.edu
Investigation of subsurface environments and subsurface processes is becoming more and more important in our understanding of planetary evolution, habitability and the search for life. Barbara Sherwood Lollar, University Professor in Earth Sciences and Dr. Norman Keevil Chair in Ore Deposits Geology at the University of Toronto, will discuss her research on this topic in the talk, "Imaging Habitable Worlds – Lessons from the Deep Biosphere and Hydrogeosphere."
Call for Rock Ethics Institute Faculty Fellowship applications
| news.psu.edu
The Rock Ethics Institute is now accepting applications for its 2022-23 Faculty Fellowship program, which provides up to $10,000 for a two-course release from teaching to support ethics-related projects.