Despite being difficult to comprehensively observe, the lowest layer of the atmosphere, known as the boundary layer, is critical to weather forecasting, according to a team of meteorology and atmospheric science researchers at Penn State. Historically, researchers have used weather balloons launched twice a day from about 100 locations across the U.S. to observe the boundary layer, but the layer changes hourly, leaving large swatches of the layer unobserved.
The Materials Characterization Lab (MCL), part of the Materials Research Institute (MRI) at Penn State, is partnering with two Pennsylvania companies to leverage the University’s shared research infrastructure for industrial innovation with practical applications and workforce training.
Accurate measurements are the foundation of effective environmental management and decision-making. Through advanced monitoring networks and computer models, Ken Davis, professor of meteorology and atmospheric science in Penn State’s College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, and his research group are helping scientists, communities and policymakers better understand urban heat, greenhouse gas emissions and air quality.
A vital tool for healthcare practitioners, electroencephalography (EEG) systems measure electrical activity in the brain through electrodes placed on the scalp, but getting reliable readings can be surprisingly difficult. Hair interferes with contact between the electrodes and skin, and the gels used to improve those connections often dry out over time, weakening signal quality.
Penn State has announced academic promotions for tenured and tenure-line faculty members at Penn State, effective July 1, 2026.
Penn State has announced non-tenure-line faculty promotions, effective July 1, 2026.
For the past several years, Penn State geoscientist Sarah Ivory and her students have been among a team of scientists scaling the East African Rwenzori Mountains, collecting sediment core samples from lakes formed at the end of the last ice age as glaciers began receding in the region some 12,000 years ago.
Herbert A. McKinstry, a pioneering materials scientist, educator, community activist and founding faculty member of Penn State’s Materials Research Laboratory, passed away at the age of 101. McKinstry devoted more than four decades to research and teaching at Penn State, helping establish the foundation for what would become the Materials Research Institute.
Alex Neill, an associate lecturer and doctoral researcher in applied social sciences at Newcastle University in Tyne, England, will give the talk “Towards Zero Waste Dining: Evaluating the Impact of Interventions on Sustainable Consumer Behavior” from noon to 1:15 p.m. on Tuesday, May 19, in 111 Borland Building on Penn State's University Park campus.
For Sailor Walter, undergraduate research offered a chance to move beyond classroom discussion and study a complex issue close to home. Walter, who recently earned a bachelor of science degree in geography from Penn State, is from the Pittsburgh area and spent the spring semester working with Jennifer Baka, associate professor of geography, on research related to the petrochemical industry in Western Pennsylvania.