Q&A: What factors influence likelihood and severity of Ebola outbreaks?
| psu.edu
Kelsee Baranowski, a postdoctoral researcher in biology in the Penn State Eberly College of Science and the Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, spoke about two recent research papers and how the results could inform public health interventions to prevent pathogen emergence or slow the spread of Ebola and other infectious diseases.
Penn State Harrisburg joins Commonwealth Arboreta Network
| psu.edu
Penn State Harrisburg has joined the Penn State Commonwealth Arboreta Network, a program that helps inventory and catalog tree species on campus and creates experiential learning and collaborative research opportunities, as well as campus beautification for students, alumni and friends of the Penn State community.
Behrend students improve park trails during Alternative Spring Break program
| psu.edu
Fifteen students from Penn State Behrend are at Roaring River State Park in Missouri as part of the Alternative Spring Break program. They will clear brush, build a kiosk and improve the park’s trail system, which was built in the 1930s.
PNAS announces six 2025 Cozzarelli Prize recipients
The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) has named the 2025 Cozzarelli Prize winners and finalists. Kayalvizhi Sadayappan and IEE faculty member Li Li were among the finalists for their research examining rising riverine heat waves.
Atom-thin material could help solve chip manufacturing problem
| psu.edu
Making computer chips smaller is not just about better design. It also depends on a critical step in manufacturing called patterning, where nanoscale structures are carved into materials to form the circuits inside everything from smartphones to advanced sensors.
Engineering professor recognized by journal for urban building energy research
| psu.edu
Wangda Zuo, Penn State professor of architectural engineering, is part of a team of researchers who was recently recognized by the journal Energy and Buildings for work that “withstands the test of time.”
Abandoned Pennsylvania mines and waste-heat recycling could make the state’s massive new data centers far more sustainable
| by Wangda Zuo
As more data centers are proposed across the state, residents and policymakers are asking important questions: How much energy and water will these data centers use? And what can be done to manage their environmental footprint?
Public health needs steady budgets – and federal funding uncertainty causes real harms, even if the money is later restored
| by Max Crowley
Since early 2025, several large federal health grants to states have been suspended and then restored after legal challenges. On Feb.
National Academy of Inventors names two Penn State faculty as senior members
| psu.edu
The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) has named 230 academic inventors to the 2026 class of NAI senior members. Among these are two Penn State researchers: Abhronil Sengupta, associate professor in electrical engineering and computer science, and Joshua Benjestorf, faculty researcher and principal investigator at the Penn State’s Applied Research Lab.
Penn State student bridges Indigenous geography and engineering in the Amazon
| psu.edu
Penn State student Sofia Hoffman spent a month in Ecuador’s Amazon Basin working with geography faculty and Kichwa communities to document contamination concerns linked to oil extraction through field research.
Recap: 2026 Ashtekar Frontiers of Science lecture series, ‘Unexpected Pairings’
| psu.edu
The 2026 Ashtekar Frontiers of Science lecture series, titled, “Unexpected pairings: Addressing today’s biggest societal questions using different disciplinary approaches,” brought together two researchers from disparate disciplines to hear how they tackle pressing scientific issues and help shape the future of science, health and humanity.
IST names Cai, Huang and Lee to lead college’s first academic departments
| psu.edu
The College of Information Sciences and Technology has named three faculty members to lead the college's first academic departments.