Many researchers across Penn State are addressing the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs)  into their research.  See https://pennstate.pure.elsevier.com/ to search by SDG. 

Similarly, EMS faculty are striving to find answers to critical questions related to sustainability, from crop health, water resources, and biodiversity to climate risk assessment and carbon cycle, to low-power electronics and materials for sustainable technologies, to carbon capture and waste management. Below are some current and highlighted research topics supported by extramural funds. 

• Title: Collaborative Research: Conservation Tillage for Sustainable Food, Energy and Water Systems: Linked Econometric and Process-based Models - Primary Investigator: Zhen Lei - Funding sponsor: National Science Foundation
• Title: West Penn Power Sustainable Energy Fund, Inc. Service Agreement Renewal - Primary Investigator: Joel Morrison - Funding sponsor: West Penn Power Sustainable Energy Fund, Inc.
• Title: RAISE: CET: SH2INE: Sustainable, Holistic Hydrogen Integration Evaluation: models and analyses of human, environmental and policy dimensions - Primary Investigator: Chiara Lo Prete - Funding sponsor: National Science Foundation
• Title: Securing the supply chain of lithium by unlocking unconventional lithium resources through sustainable electrochemical leaching - Primary Investigator: Feifei Shi - Funding sponsor: U.S. Department of Energy
• Title: GreenGrowth: Harnessing Algae Biomass for Sustainable Soil Amendment and Biofertilizer Production - Primary Investigator: Meng Wang - Funding sponsor: U.S. Department of Energy
• Title: Innovative STEAM training to support youth engagement in policymaking for sustainable futures in under-served regions of Cameroon - Primary Investigator: Bronwen Powell - Funding sponsor: Embassy of the United States Yaounde, Cameroon
• Title: REU Site: Geosciences Program in Energy and Environmental Resources Sustainability (GeoPEERS) - Primary Investigator: Maureen Feineman - Funding sponsor: National Science Foundation 

In addition, for the past four years through an ongoing annual request for proposals, the College of EMS Dean’s Office has provided seed grants for a variety of sustainability-related projects through the EMS Sustainability Research Fund. Some examples of those projects can be viewed below.