A selection of climate-related events from around Penn State and beyond.
The realities of climate change and the global need to transition to non-carbon emitting energy generation, distribution, and utilization are creating fundamental national security implications and driving an order-of-magnitude demand increase for a wide array of critical and essential minerals. Significant increases in the production of critical and essential minerals are strategically vital to achieving the desired green energy transition.
Celebrate the excitement of Earth Week and the role agriculture plays in becoming better stewards of the Earth from 1-3 p.m. on Saturday, April 20, at the Dr. Keiko Miwa Ross Student Farm.
The event, hosted by the Dr. Keiko Miwa Ross Student Farm, will provide free bus services from the Creamery bus pullout to the farm and back, commencing at 12:45 p.m. The bus will make a loop every 20 minutes.
In the last century, research on urban systems dynamics has improved our understanding, leading to data-driven tools for effective urban management, including predictive analytics and simulation models. Despite these advances, achieving sustainability goals remains a challenge for cities. The historical focus on system-scale decisions must now consider the influence of urban gradients and their connections to external and internal factors.
Global problems of greatest importance have become existential, cross geography and peoples, and are of such complexity that no one field, agency, country, or foundation can solve them. Systems solutions to those problems by definition require an unprecedented degree of interdisciplinary collaboration whose routine goal is to achieve goals not achievable within single disciplines. International universities can become the best social structure in society capable of rising to the challenge of finding systems solutions to global problems. Participating in those solutions is a moral respons
Penn State’s NSF-supported Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) will soon invite proposals for a Seed competition that seeks to nucleate interdisciplinary teams in areas of transformative materials research that would be competitive as Interdisciplinary Research Groups (IRGs) in the upcoming 2025–26 national MRSEC competition. During the Cafe I will describe the qualities of a successful Seed-IRG. Immediately after the Café (starting at 11a) will be a round table opportunity for anyone interested in further discussion & brainstorming.
Municipal planning, socioeconomic factors, and geographic environmental vulnerability are key determinants of a community's livability. Various types of exposure become evident within community functions. Join us to explore how forestry can offer practical solutions to address the challenges faced by individuals and neighborhoods in our community.
Attend this one-hour webinar to learn, and networking with like-minded professionals!
The agroforestry practice of forest farming is the production of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) in forests to produce edible and medicinal crops for personal use and/or income. In this session, you will learn about invasive species management in a forest farming system.
The webinar, at no cost, will provide comprehensive guidance on managing invasive plant species identified in Pennsylvania.
Who is this for?
As concern over climate change spreads, radical ideas are in the air. If cuts in greenhouse gas emissions fall short, some have proposed dimming the sun by reflecting sunlight directly back to space or by making marine clouds brighter. These and other proposed technical fixes often overlook the political, ethical, and social consequences of intervening in the climate system. This presentation examines the long and checkered history of weather and climate control and asks, What could possibly go wrong when “fixing the sky” becomes a dangerous experiment with our future?
This seminar presents two distinct but complementary vignettes exploring innovative approaches to address the mitigation of climate change. The first vignette introduces the GARF algorithm, a novel computational method that integrates a genetic algorithm with random forest machine learning to discover superior metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) for methane adsorption. By using only basic information about molecular building blocks and crystal structure as input, the GARF algorithm efficiently identifies high-performing MOFs without the need for computationally intensive simulations.
The Earth and Environmental Systems Institute invites you to their annual Earth Day Celebration event! This event will include a showing of the documentary Photographer, featuring National Geographic photographers, Paul Nicklen and Cristina Mittermeier. During the catered lunch, attendees will also hear lightning talks presented by three of our EESI Environmental Scholars, Sam Cohen, Fran Meyers, and Alexander Massa, and learn about a new curation at Penn State’s Eberly Family Special Collection Library based on the 1899 Harriman Alaska Expedition that included John Muir and Edward Curtis.
In the 2019 Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP), the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) rolled out a "local and specific" strategy to reduce its pollution burden on the Chesapeake Bay by 2025. Counties with land within the Chesapeake Bay watershed were encouraged to engage with local stakeholders to develop localized plans to achieve reduction goals for nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment loads impairing their local waters and the Bay downstream.
What is the role of the structural engineer in her and his collaborations with architects and artists? Notable structural engineers from Ove Arup to Fazlur Khan have acted at times as consulting facilitator and brilliant technician and other times as lead designers. What critical concepts that can account for the creative contributions of the actors in key works of architecture? And what civic roles do engineers play in addressing the pressing needs of cities both in the climate crisis but also in the case of transformative events such as 9/11?
Join Penn State Sustainability, in partnership with State College Borough, for the regular end-of-semester celebration of the extraordinary student work among classes participating in the Sustainable Communities Collaborative (SCC). Hear how students have conducted applied research on behalf of communities across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to help them advance their sustainability goals, whether environmental, social, or economic.
Melissa Marshall, founder of the science communications consulting company Present Your Science, will give the 2024 A. Dixon and Betty F. Johnson Lectureship in Scientific Communication on April 25 at 6:30 p.m. in 100 Thomas Building on the Penn State University Park campus. The free public lecture is open to the Penn State community.
During Ukraine Series: Forests and the Frontlines, participants will hear from two experts about how the war is damaging forests, forest loss, and how foresters and families are impacted by the war. These unique presentations will be from two award winning Ukrainian foresters, both of whom are shaping forest policy and the future of Ukrainian forests. Dr. Andrii Bilous will be presenting while fighting on the frontlines of the war.
Biomanufacturing uses biological systems, including plants and microbes, to create new materials or alternatives to existing everyday materials like plastics, chemicals, fabrics, and nutraceuticals. By some estimates, up to 60% of materials in the global consumer product supply chain could be produced biologically, resulting in domestic economic growth while lowering embodied carbon emissions and reducing environmental pollution.
Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences is hosting the Technologies for Agriculture and Living Systems Symposium at the University Park campus on May 7-8, 2024, to initiate and foster the productive partnerships necessary for the integration of emerging and advanced technologies to address the complex challenges we face with climate change, resource protection (soil, water, air), biodiversity losses, rural and urban health, and social and economic shifts within our communities.
Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences is hosting the Technologies for Agriculture and Living Systems Symposium at the University Park campus on May 7-8, 2024, to initiate and foster the productive partnerships necessary for the integration of emerging and advanced technologies to address the complex challenges we face with climate change, resource protection (soil, water, air), biodiversity losses, rural and urban health, and social and economic shifts within our communities.
The two-day Penn State Climate Solutions Symposium highlights innovations from numerous disciplines through dynamic breakout sessions, keynote talks from leaders in the climate solutions space, a poster session, and more. The event also features opportunities for attendees to network with like-minded individuals who are seeking climate solutions as collaborators, funders, or implementers in the themes of the Climate Consortium.
The two-day Penn State Climate Solutions Symposium highlights innovations from numerous disciplines through dynamic breakout sessions, keynote talks from leaders in the climate solutions space, a poster session, and more. The event also features opportunities for attendees to network with like-minded individuals who are seeking climate solutions as collaborators, funders, or implementers in the themes of the Climate Consortium.