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- STATERs encourage Penn Staters to go
green and keep campus clean
It's not hard to find members of STATERs -- a new campus-recognized student recycling organization --
in a crowd of thousands who are tailgating at a Penn State football home game.
- Penn State scientists elected to National
Academy of Sciences
Richard Alley, the Evan Pugh professor of geosciences, and Barry Marshall,
the Francis R. and Helen M. Pentz Professor of Science, are the newest Penn State members of
the National Academy of Sciences.
- American Academy of Arts and Sciences
elects 2 Penn State scientists
Jainendra K. Jain, the Erwin W. Mueller Professor of Physics, and James
Kasting, distinguished professor of geosciences, have been named members of the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences.
- Penn State places first in Shell Eco-marathon contest
A team of engineering students from Penn State snagged a first-place finish recently in the 2008
Shell Eco-marathon.
- Energy Efficiency Forum Update
PSIEE recently sponsored an energy efficiency forum with the purpose of identifying a pathway toward
a campus-wide energy efficiency effort. The forum highlighted the importance of the efficiency
issue, identified our strengths in addressing the way energy is used and managed at the University
Park Campus, and to charted out a way to collectively attack the endeavor.
- Critical Zone Observatory Meeting Will Focus on Soil Formation, Water Flow
The Shale Hills Critical Zone Observatory project, recently awarded a new $4.3-million NSF grant,
will have its kick-off meeting in the EES Building Monday and Tuesday (April 28, 29). The meeting will feature a public talk by Larry
McKay, Jones Professor of Hydrology at the
University of Tennessee. His talk is scheduled for 12:15 p.m. in 114 EES Building.
- GEOG 497C - Environmental Issues Across the Americas - May 5th Deadline
The Fall 2008 class starts with Field School in Peru that runs August 7-22, 2008. The registration
deadline to enroll in the class is May 5th. Students can contact either Denice Wardrop (dhw110@psu.edu)
or Joe Bishop (jab190@psu.edu) for more information.
- Climate Ethics and Real Climate Make Time Magazine's Top 15 Green Websites
Two websites created by Penn State researchers, Real Climate and ClimateEthics, were named in
Time Magazine's list of top 15 green websites. The list was published in Time's April
28, 2008 Special Environment Issue.
- Probing question: Why do whales beach themselves?
Whales are the largest marine mammals in the world — the smallest species weigh in
at several tons. When whales beach themselves, they can die simply from the crushing weight
of their own bodies or from overheating due to their blubber, which is needed for insulation
in cold ocean waters. What causes these often fatal incidents?
- ClearWater Conservancy plans tree planting at sheep farm
ClearWater Conservancy, a Centre County-based nonprofit land trust and natural resource conservation
organization, will complete Phase I of the Penn State Sheep Farm riparian restoration project with
its annual Beatty Memorial Arbor Day Celebration. Volunteers will work with community members to
plant more trees and shrubs from 9 a.m. to noon Arbor Day, Saturday, April 26, at the site in Houserville,
College Township. The event is rain or shine and open to all interested volunteers.
- Panel of Experts to Discuss Strategies for Our Energy Future on 26 April
A panel discussion involving six energy and environment experts from Penn State will take
place on 26 April 2008 at 11:00 a.m. in 100 Thomas Building on the Penn State University
Park Campus. The
discussion will focus broadly on system-wide questions about global energy issues and environmental
impacts, and on integrated solutions involving multiple energy sources.
- Watershed Clean-Up Day Scheduled for Saturday April 19th
Penn State’s Physical Plant in cooperation with the Clearwater Conservancy is leading
a clean-up effort to remove litter from Penn State watershed property on Saturday April 19th.
- Absence of clouds caused prehuman supergreenhouse periods
In a world without human-produced pollution, biological productivity controls cloud formation
and may be the lever that caused supergreenhouse episodes during the Cetaceous and Eocene,
according to Penn State paleoclimatologists.
- The Medical Minute: Asthma patients should consider pollution's effect
Scientific studies have clearly demonstrated the impact of air pollution in humans with chronic
respiratory illnesses such as asthma. Furthermore, it has been shown that exercise can enhance
the adverse effects specific air pollutants can have on health.
- DOE surplus laboratory equipment available
The United States Department of Energy grants surplus laboratory equipment to universities
and similar organizations, to use in “energy-oriented educational programs in the life,
physical, and environmental sciences, and in engineering.”
- The My 20 Challenge
Penn State is challenging itself to go green. As a part of Earth Week (April 20-26), we are
challenging ourselves to reduce our energy consumption by 20 percent. We are trying to get all
Penn Staters to go green for one day during Earth Week.
- Gyspsy
Moth Management Made More Efficient, Cost Effective
A computer model that provides land managers with a more efficient and cost-effective approach
for controlling gypsy moths and other invasive pests has been created by biologists at Penn State
University and the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.
- Pratt & Whitney establishes
partnership with Penn State
Pratt & Whitney has announced the establishment of strategic university partnerships
with Penn State, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech.
- DOE grant funds solar energy project
Competitively priced electricity from easily manufactured solar cells is the aim of a Penn
State researcher's project funded for up to $1,231,000 over three years by the U.S. Department
of Energy.
- Discussion to focus on solar energy
David Riley, director of the Center for Sustainability and associate professor
of architectural engineering, will present "Here Comes the Sun: The Business Case for
the Solar Energy – Reframing the Energy Policy Debate in Pennsylvania and Beyond" at
7 p.m. Tuesday, April 8, in 22 Dieke Building, University Park.
- Logan to receive award for meritorious service
Bruce Logan, Kappe professor of environmental engineering and the director of the Penn State
H2E Center, will be one of three people honored by the National Hydrogen Association (NHA)
with the group's 2008 Award for Meritorious Service.
- ConocoPhillips, Penn State partner on nationwide energy prize program
ConocoPhillips and Penn State are launching the ConocoPhillips Energy Prize, an awards program
that seeks to recognize new ideas and original, actionable solutions that can help improve the
way the United States develops and uses energy.
- Can logging be done sustainably?
Jim Finley answers with an emphatic “yes.” “We have the necessary knowledge about
forest systems to log sustainably,” says the Penn State professor of forest resources. (Research
PennState Probing Question feature)
- Tackling global challenge to ensure food security in changing climate
In an upcoming two-day workshop at Penn State, international experts representing many
different fields from climate modeling, through ecology, to plant biology and systems biology will
address the challenges relating to plant stress.
- Arboretum's Overlook Pavilion construction set to begin
Penn State's Board of Trustees approved the start of construction of the Overlook Pavilion in The
Arboretum at Penn State at its meeting today (March 21) in Washington, D.C.
- Penn State engineer named KAUST Investigator
Bruce Logan, the Kappe professor of environmental engineering at Penn State, is
one of 12 scientists to receive a Global Research Partnership (GRP) Investigator award
from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).
- New Book by MRI Researchers Fuels Solar Hydrogen Development
A new book, Light, Water, Hydrogen: The Solar Generation of Hydrogen by
Water Photoelectrolysis,
published by researchers in the Materials Research Institute surveys recent advances in the
generation of hydrogen by water photoelectrolysis, the splitting of the water molecule by sunlight.
- Hybrid vehicle team plans spring break road trip
While many Penn State students will be soaking up sun or otherwise taking it easy during spring
break, three members of the Penn State hybrid vehicle team will embark on an ambitious 1,200-mile
road trip from Monday to Saturday in their converted hybrid Chevrolet Equinox.
- Solar cell directly splits water for hydrogen
Plants trees and algae do it. Even some bacteria and moss do it, but scientists have had a difficult
time developing methods to turn sunlight into useful fuel. Now, Penn State researchers have a proof-of-concept
device that can split water and produce recoverable hydrogen.
- Will North Atlantic threshold response to ocean changes be enough?
Predictions that the 21st century is safe from major circulation changes in the North Atlantic
Ocean may not be as comforting as they seem, according to a Penn State researcher.
