Read the latest news about research conducted by investigators in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. Our faculty and students are continually advancing technology, creating solutions and expanding knowledge with new and innovative research.
News
Air quality research could improve public health in West Africa
Research that models nearly 60 years of air quality in West Africa could lend insights into better forecasting a hazard that affects more than 350 million people in the region, according to an international team of researchers.
Inexpensive material offers solution for ocean oil spills
A super-absorbent material developed by Penn State scientists could dramatically reduce the environmental impact of oil spills on oceans and allow recovered oil to be refined normally.
Controlling future summer weather extremes still within our grasp
Continued burning of fossil fuels is likely to fuel even more extreme summers than that of 2018 because of its impact on the jet stream.
Geography student models future fires to restore past forests
The forests we walk through today are not the same as the ones that existed hundreds of years ago. Human activities such as agriculture, development, and logging have changed them. Fire, or really the lack of it, also changed forests, to the detriment of some species like oaks and pines.
Enhancement of piezoelectric properties in organic polymers all in the molecules
The inability to alter intrinsic piezoelectric behavior in organic polymers hampers their application in flexible, wearable and biocompatible devices, according to researchers at Penn State and North Carolina State University, but now a molecular approach can improve those piezoelectric properties.
New weather model could increase tornado-warning times
Penn State researchers are the first to use data obtained from recent next-generation satellites in a numerical weather-prediction model used to provide guidance for tornadic thunderstorm forecasting.
EMS faculty member among seed grant recipients to support opioid research
Penn State’s Social Science Research Institute (SSRI), in collaboration with the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) has awarded over $200,000 in funding to support 10 new interdisciplinary teams of Penn State researchers whose work is aimed at combating the opioid epidemic.
Program combines mobile devices and the outdoors in an unlikely pairing
In the age of digital technology, mobile devices are good for more than just text messaging and playing games. According to Penn State College of Education researchers, the combination of technology and the outdoors is getting children and their families outside to learn more about science and their communities.
$490K grant funds unique Greenland glacier study
A more comprehensive way to understand the fracturing of Greenland's Helheim Glacier may now be possible thanks to a $489,000 grant from the Heising-Simons Foundation to a team of Penn State researchers to launch a feasibility study.
NSF funds $3 million graduate training program focused on Food-Energy-Water
The National Science Foundation has awarded a $3 million grant to an interdisciplinary team of Penn State researchers to create a new graduate program that will train students to find solutions to real-world problems facing Food-Energy-Water (FEW) systems.