$2 million grant awarded for climate-adaptive infrastructure design
| news.psu.edu
Researchers from Penn State and the University of Pittsburgh were awarded a $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation to develop a new approach to infrastructure design that uses climate projection models and artificial intelligence to evaluate the likely long-term economic and environmental impacts of infrastructure design choices.
Software tool that finds spots for water-quality devices will work in Northeast
| news.psu.edu
A computer software package widely used in the Midwest to strategically position riparian buffers and other structures aimed at protecting water quality on agricultural land can be used effectively in the eastern United States, with some limitations, Penn State researchers report in a new study.
Algorithm helps probe connections between stream chemistry and environment
| news.psu.edu
Researchers say their novel application of a machine learning algorithm can analyze how the chemical makeup of a stream changes over time, which could help with environmental modeling and understanding.
A naturally inspired, reusable system that purifies water and builds itself
| news.psu.edu
In nature, the interaction of molecules at the boundary of different liquids can give rise to new structures. These self-assembling molecules can be engineered to perform specific functions — and now, a team of Penn State researchers has leveraged this opportunity to develop a material that could remove persistent pollutants such as PFAS from water.
Interdisciplinary projects awarded seed grants from IEE
| news.psu.edu
The Institutes of Energy and the Environment (IEE) has awarded seed grants to 22 groups of interdisciplinary researchers for the 2020-21 award cycle. This year, seed grants were awarded to proposals focusing on at least one of IEE’s five strategic research themes — Climate and Ecosystem Change, Health and the Environment, Integrated Energy Systems, Urban Systems, and Water and Biogeochemical Cycles.
Artificial intelligence predicts river water quality with weather data
| news.psu.edu
A Penn-State led team developed an artificial intelligence model to forecast water quality in remote rivers and streams, which could lead to a better understanding of how rivers are reacting to human disturbances and climate change.
Landscape shows earliest effects of modern humans using fire to shape ecosystem
| news.psu.edu
New archaeological and paleoenvironmental evidence from Lake Malawi, Africa, shows that early modern humans used fire in a way that prevented regrowth of the region’s forests and created the sprawling bushland that exists today, according to researchers.
Growing Impact: Green stormwater infrastructure
| by Lauren McPhillips
Green stormwater infrastructure uses the power of plants and soils to improve water quality. More than that, Lauren McPhillips discusses how making stormwater infrastructure green is saving cities money, impacting environmental justice, and cooling urban heat islands with aesthetically pleasing gardens.
Changing cropping systems in impaired watersheds can produce water quality gains
| news.psu.edu
Growing the right crop in the right place within an impaired watershed can achieve significant water quality improvements, according to Penn State researchers, who conducted a novel study in the drainage of a Susquehanna River tributary in an agricultural area in southeastern Pennsylvania. The research may reveal a potential path for restoring the troubled Chesapeake Bay.
Growing Impact: Climate change on the Hudson
| by Kirk French
Kirk French talks about his newest project, "Climate Change on the Hudson: A Century After Nanook." In the discussion, Kirk talks about the importance of documenting climate change through film and how revisiting "Nanook of the North" empowered the Inuit to tell their story, even in the face of COVID.
'Windows of opportunity' crucial for cutting Chesapeake nutrient, sediment loads
| news.psu.edu
The vast majority of nutrients and sediment washed into streams flowing into the Chesapeake Bay are picked up by deluges from severe storms that occur on relatively few days of the year. That is the conclusion of a new study led by Penn State researchers, who say it offers clues for cleaning up the impaired estuary.
Biochar from agricultural waste products can adsorb contaminants in wastewater
| news.psu.edu
Biochar — a charcoal-like substance made primarily from agricultural waste products — holds promise for removing emerging contaminants such as pharmaceuticals from treated wastewater. That’s the conclusion of a team of researchers that conducted a novel study.