News

A research symposium honoring three earth and mineral sciences emeritus professors will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sept. 11, in the Atherton Hotel’s Vanderbilt Room in State College, Pennsylvania. The symposium will feature speakers discussing the impact of the careers of Michael Arthur, professor emeritus of geosciences; Terry Engelder, professor emeritus of geosciences; and Turgay Ertekin, professor emeritus of petroleum and natural gas engineering.

A newly released report examines how flooding and recent changes to the federal flood insurance program are impacting rural Pennsylvania in unique ways. 

Robert Brooks, Ruby S. and E. Willard Miller Professor of Geography and Ecology and director of Riparia, was elected a Fellow of the Society of Wetland Scientists, the society’s highest honor, during a ceremony in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in June.

The Penn State Alumni Association will recognize 14 graduates on Oct. 4 with the lifelong title of Alumni Fellow, the highest award given by the Alumni Association.

In the Rio Studio, advanced architecture and landscape architecture students used digital technology, including virtual reality, to explore design solutions for a Brazilian favela. Jose Duarte, Stuckeman Chair in Design Innovation at Penn State, has long been interested in how these unplanned communities take shape, and how they evolve. What are the hidden rules that underlie their emergence and growth? By decoding these rules, he says, we can both improve existing settlements and better face the design challenges of the future.

As rows of tents dotted the countryside, the Grange Fair offered a chance to get back to more simple times. But for members of the group WE ARE for Science, it was a chance to shape the future of science policy, education and public outreach. About 40 members of the group recently spent a day at the fair fielding questions from kids and parents alike, in areas such as astronomy, entomology and geosciences at their “Ask a Scientist” event.

The Institutes of Energy and the Environment (IEE) announced the addition of three new cofunded faculty members who will join Penn State during the 2017–18 academic year. Jillian Goldfarb will join the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering at Penn State in January 2018 as an assistant professor.The faculty other two faculty members are Kristina Douglass and Jonathan Duncan.

A new course encourages students to take a highly interdisciplinary approach to dealing with pressing environmental challenges. The curriculum is an introduction to critical zone science, an emerging field that brings together scientists with diverse backgrounds to study the place where rock, soil, water, air and life meet.

Allison Beese, assistant professor of materials science and engineering, recently earned the International Outstanding Young Researcher in Freeform and Additive Manufacturing Award for research accomplishments related to additive manufacturing of metallic materials.

Sanjay Srinivasan, the newly appointed head of the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering (EME), said he’s looking forward to helping “world-class” faculty further extend Penn State’s reputation as “the energy university.”