EMS Sustainability News

Thermoelectric generators that can convert waste heat to clean energy could soon be as efficient as other renewable energy sources, like solar, according to a team led by Penn State scientists.

Tara Righetti, Occidental Chair in Energy and Environmental Policies and professor of law the University of Wyoming, will give the talk “Land acquisition for carbon sequestration,” at 4 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 30, in 112 Walker Building at Penn State University Park. 

Praharsh Patel, doctoral candidate in energy, environmental, and food economics at Penn State, will give the talk, “Behavioral responses to two-part tariffs: evidence from the introduction of volumetric water pricing,” at noon on Wednesday, Sept. 25, in 157 Hosler Building at Penn State University Park.

The Penn State Department of Geography, in collaboration with The Arboretum at Penn State and the Indigenous Peoples’ Student Association (IPSA), will host a special "Coffee Hour" lecture on Friday, Sept. 27, from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Arboretum’s Overlook Pavilion.

Findings from an international team of researchers, including those from Penn State, suggest that Earth's natural forces could substantially reduce the melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and its impact on rising sea levels, but only if carbon emissions are swiftly reduced in the coming decades. 

IEE has welcomed two new researchers including Mark Ortiz, assistant professor of geography, They will also work with Penn State Climate Consortium.

Eli Vogel, now in the graduate program for environmental science and policy at Johns Hopkins, published results from research conducted with Ken Davis in the journal Carbon Management.

Alan Taylor, a recently retired and now professor emeritus of geography, spent decades researching West Coast landscape and fire ecology. He used ecological signals and human history to paint a picture of how forests changed over time.

LionGlass, a new family of glass engineered by researchers at Penn State, has secured its first corporate partner, a move toward bringing the ecofriendly alternative to standard soda lime silicate glass to market.

The Social Science Research Institute (SSRI) is welcoming nine new co-funded faculty members to Penn State. By helping to support co-funded faculty members, SSRI also supports interdisciplinary research within the social and behavioral sciences.