Historically, wildfire research has focused on the western United States. However, changing climate conditions, increasing drought severity and dense development patterns are rapidly altering wildfire risk across the Eastern United States. Penn State hosted the Eastern Wildfire Forum in September to address the growing challenge of wildfire in the commonwealth and across the Eastern United States.

Kara Fikrig, assistant professor of entomology at Penn State, will deliver the talk “Understanding the Distribution of Invasive Mosquitoes Across the Landscape — And the Human Role in Shaping It” at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 9, in 112 Walker Building at University Park and via Zoom.

During her final semester at Penn State, Marsella Degnan gained hands-on research experience through the Department of Geography by helping track how opioid settlement funds are being used across Pennsylvania.

Three geographers whose research examines climate justice, energy systems and changing relationships between people and the environment will take part in a public keynote discussion panel from 3:45 to 5 p.m. on Oct. 2, at the Overlook Pavilion at the Arboretum at Penn State.

Shannon Speed, Paula Gunn Allen Chair and professor of American Indian studies, gender studies and anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), will deliver the Penn State Department of Geography’s annual E. Willard and Ruby S. Miller Endowed Lecture at noon on Friday, Oct. 23, in the Foster Auditorium at Penn State University Park and via Zoom.

Roberta Mendonça De Carvalho, teaching associate professor in the urban studies program at the University of Pittsburgh, will deliver a talk titled “500 Cities in 50 Years: Fragmentation and Urban Expansion in the Amazon” at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 18, in 112 Walker Building at Penn State University Park. The talk will also be accessible via Zoom.

It’s not so much where people live, but where they frequently spend their time that can provide useful information for predicting community health measures. A team led by geographers in the Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences found that adding place visitation data — geographical data points collected from millions of anonymous cell phone users with GPS-enabled devices — to a population health model increased the model’s predictive performance by an average of 7.5%.

This summer was a time for travel, research, internships and expanding classroom lessons for many students in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences.

Jennifer Mapes, assistant professor of geography at Kent State, will open the Penn State Department of Geography's fall 2026 Coffee Hour seminar series at noon on Friday, Aug. 28, in 401 Steidle Building Penn State University Park. The talk also will be accessible via Zoom.

Pennsylvania ranks second in U.S. natural gas production, accounting for about one-fifth of U.S. output in 2024, and has one of the most extensive histories of energy extraction in the country. A team of researchers from Penn State is trying to better understand the environmental impacts of these sites — specifically, if fracking is increasing radium content in local drinking water.