Sustainability is a strategic initiative in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. Below are the most current stories showcasing our college's sustainability efforts.
Coffee Hour to discuss water governance conflicts linked to climate change
Srinivas Chokkakula, Ministry of Jal Shakti Research Chair with the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi, will give the talk “Conflicts and Complicit Climate Change: Transboundary Water Governance in South Asia” as part of the Department of Geography’s Coffee Hour lecture series.
Penn State webinar to address access to low-income energy efficiency programs
The Penn State Center for Energy Law and Policy (CELP) and the Hamer Center for Community Design in the College of Arts and Architecture’s Stuckeman School are teaming up to host a one-hour webinar at 10:30 a.m. on Dec. 1 to address the substantial challenges low-income individuals in Pennsylvania face in accessing energy efficiency programs.
Fossil fuel past, green future: Abandoned wells may offer geothermal power
Tapping into abandoned oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania, products of the state’s long history of energy extraction — could provide a future source of affordable geothermal energy, according to Penn State scientists.
EarthTalks: Cornell researcher to discuss co-locating solar arrays on farmland
Niko Kochendoerfer, a postdoctoral fellow in animal sciences at Cornell University, will deliver the talk "Effect of sheep stocking rate on ecosystem parameters in ground-mounted solar arrays " at 4 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 14.
$1.5 million grant awarded to team studying impacts of land abandonment
Two Penn State researchers received a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation through the Belmont Forum to study actual and perceived impacts of land abandonment on the sustainability of soil and water resources.
Fighting fire with fire: Study gauges public perception of prescribed burns
A new study may fill in gaps in understanding public perception toward prescribed burns in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic, where these fires are increasingly used, according to scientists.
Coffee Hour to discuss diversifying ag systems, increasing agrobiodiversity
Kaitlyn Spangler, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Geography at Penn State, will discuss issues relating to crop diversity in her talk "Beyond corn, soy and wheat? Re-imagining a diverse U.S. agricultural landscape.”
EarthTalks: Lexie Hain to discuss agricultural integration and solar facilities
Lexie Hain, director of agrivoltaics and land management at Lightsource bp, will introduce solar grazing as an agrivoltaic practice, and discuss ecosystem service considerations, as well as aspects of performance, professionalism, and potential implementation in her talk "Agricultural integration and solar facilities: Agrivoltaics in context" at 4 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 24.
NSF CAREER Award to study impact of petrochemical plant in western Pa.
Jenn Baka, associate professor of geography at Penn State, received a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) Award to examine a new cracker plant’s impact on humans’ relationship to the environment and environmental policymaking.
EarthTalks lecture to discuss large-scale solar trends, impacts and implications
Tom Murphy, director of the Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research at Penn State, will answer questions around solar development in his talk "Utility Scale Solar and Pennsylvania – Trends, Impacts, and Implications."