Penn State chemist receives 2026 Schmidt Science Polymath Award
| psu.edu
Lauren Zarzar, professor of chemistry and materials science and engineering, has been named a recipient of the 2026 Schmidt Science Polymath Award.
Master Watershed Steward’s decade-long service demonstrates impact
| psu.edu
Geoffrey Selling has spent the past decade volunteering with Penn State Extension’s Montgomery County Master Watershed Steward program, dedicating more than 3,000 hours to service projects, both as a project manager and program leader.
Simulated nuclear facilities offer hands-on cybersecurity learning
| psu.edu
Students in NUCE/CYBER 443: Cybersecurity for Nuclear Facilities learn about simulated cyberattacks and have the opportunity to design responsive security measures.
Nakamura to discuss barriers to accessing environmental public benefit programs
| psu.edu
Shotaro Nakamura, assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology and Education at Penn State, will give the talk “Monetary and non-monetary barriers to accessing environmental public benefit programs: experimental evidence from California,” at noon on Friday, Sept. 25, in 157 Hosler Building on Penn State’s University Park campus.
Sept. 25 talk to highlight importance of resilient water infrastructure
| psu.edu
Roberto Fernández, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Penn State, will give the talk “Living with Water” on Sept. 25 in the Earth and Engineering Sciences Building at University Park. The talk will also be available via Zoom.
Darrell Schlom to deliver 2026 Taylor Lecture in Materials on Sept. 25
| psu.edu
The theme of the 2026 Nelson W. Taylor Lecture in Materials is “Extending materials science into the impossible.” The lecture, by Darrell Schlom, Tisch University Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Cornell University, will be held 8:15-11:30 a.m. on Sept. 25 in the HUB-Robeson Center’s Heritage Hall.
Flight of imagination
| pennstatermag.com
An array of Penn State alumni, faculty, and students have played an essential role in NASA’s upcoming Dragonfly mission, a groundbreaking exploration of Saturn’s largest moon in search of a new understanding of the origins of life on Earth.
Biobehavioral health professor Keith Aronson to retire after 25 years at Penn State
| psu.edu
After 25 years at Penn State, Keith Aronson, associate director of the Social Science Research Institute, director of the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness at Penn State and research professor in the Department of Biobehavioral Health, will retire at the end of the year.
College of Agricultural Sciences hosts Ukrainian scholars
| psu.edu
Managed by Ag Sciences Global in the college, the Woskob International Research in Agriculture Scholar Program is the Woskob New Century Fund’s flagship educational exchange program. It covers visiting scholars’ travel and living expenses. The program gives Ukrainian instructors a semester-long opportunity to expand their knowledge and expertise by attending classes and working with the college’s faculty.
Penn State Sustainability to screen 'Hungry to Learn' on Wednesday, Sept. 30
| psu.edu
Penn State Sustainability’s Intersections Film Series will launch its 2026-27 season with a screening of “Hungry to Learn” at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 30. The film highlights the widespread issue of food insecurity among college students and its impact on student success, while also spotlighting emerging solutions.
Penn State hosts roundtable on Opportunity Zones, housing affordability
| psu.edu
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development officials joined representatives from local, state and federal government, nonprofit, and private sectors for a Sept. 9 discussion hosted by the School of Public Policy.
Stuckeman School to host interdisciplinary symposium on AI use in arts, design
| psu.edu
The Stuckeman School in the Penn State College of Arts and Architecture is hosting an interdisciplinary symposium on artificial intelligence use in the arts and design fields March 26-27, 2027, at the Nittany Lion Inn.