Penn State Energy and Environment News

Seed grants to enable exploration of new frontiers in materials research

| psu.edu

The Materials Research Institute has announced new seed grant opportunities for Penn State faculty in a variety of research themes, with a goal of sparking new collaborations that will develop high-risk, high-impact transformative proposals via materials research.

Climate change is muting fall colors, but it's just the latest way that humans have altered US forests

| theconversation.com

Warm autumn weather has produced dull leaf colors across the eastern US this year, but climate change isn’t the only way that humans have altered trees’ fall displays.

Penn State professor, Nobel laureate to present on inclusive STEM teaching

| news.psu.edu

Penn State Professor of Mathematics Nate Brown and Nobel laureate Carl Wieman, Stanford University professor of physics and education and author of “Improving How Universities Teach Science,” will present a remote mini-symposium titled “STEM Educational Equity and Design” from 1 to 2:50 p.m. EDT Oct. 29 via Zoom.

Materials Research Institute names five Roy Award winners

| news.psu.edu

Three Penn State faculty and two graduate students have received the 2021 Rustum and Della Roy Innovation in Materials Research Award.

Erickson Discovery Grants open for summer 2022 funding

| psu.edu

Students from all academic fields and Penn State campuses are encouraged to apply for a 2022 Erickson Discovery Grant to fund student-initiated projects next summer. Grants provide $3,500 toward living expenses and project costs. Student projects of all kinds are welcome: the arts, engineering, humanities, sciences and social sciences.

EarthTalks to examine history of fire in tropical Asia from ice age to present

| psu.edu

Rebecca Hamilton, postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute, will deliver a talk titled "Fire dynamics in tropical Asia: from the Pleistocene to the Anthropocene" at 4 p.m. Monday, Nov. 1, via Zoom.

National Center for Healthy Housing director to give Hankin Lecture

| news.psu.edu

Amanda L. Reddy, executive director of the National Center for Healthy Housing, will deliver the 2021 Hankin Distinguished Lecture, hosted by Penn State's residential construction program and the Pennsylvania Housing Research Center. Her talk, “Florence Nightingale Was Right: The Central Role of Housing for Ensuring Health and Well-Being in a Changing World,” will be held at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 17, over Zoom.

Celebrating Professional Women in Building Week at Penn State

| news.psu.edu

In celebration of the National Association of Home Builders Professional Women in Building Week, the PWB Council of Central Pennsylvania partnered with the Pennsylvania Housing Research Center at Penn State to speak with undergraduate students from several majors in the architectural engineering course AE 470: Residential Building Design and Construction on Sept. 17.

Center for Socially Responsible AI accepting seed funding proposals

| news.psu.edu

Penn State’s Center for Socially Responsible Artificial Intelligence is now inviting short proposals for its annual seed funding program. Applications will be accepted through Dec. 1, with projects expected to start in spring 2022 and last for up to two years.

Erie researchers identify new threat to American chestnut trees

| news.psu.edu

Researchers at the Lake Erie Regional Grape Research and Extension Center have been studying the blight that rendered American chestnuts “functionally extinct.” Now, they’ve noticed another problem.

Engineer invited to present research at two international conferences

| news.psu.edu

Huanyu “Larry” Cheng, Dorothy Quiggle Career Development Assistant Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics in Penn State’s College of Engineering, was selected to present at two invite-only scientific conferences.

Penn State GIS Day virtual event to take place Nov. 16

| news.psu.edu

Penn State University Libraries will observe GIS Day with a virtual event from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 16. Co-sponsored with the Penn State Department of Geography, GIS Day is an annual event that celebrates the technology of geographic information systems (GIS) and aims to foster geospatial awareness across the University and beyond.