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
Mann receives Schneider award for outstanding climate science communication
Michael Mann, distinguished professor of atmospheric science and director of the Earth System Science Center, Penn State, will receive the seventh annual Stephen H. Schneider Award for Outstanding Climate Science Communications from Climate One at the Commonwealth Club.
Japanese slow earthquakes could shed light on tsunami generation
Understanding slow-slip earthquakes in subduction zone areas may help researchers understand large earthquakes and the creation of tsunamis, according to an international team of researchers that used data from instruments placed on the seafloor and in boreholes east of the Japanese coast.
Grant focuses on 'hydrogen sponge' for use in fuel-cell vehicles
Finding practical hydrogen storage technologies for vehicles powered by fuel cells is the focus of a $682,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, awarded to Mike Chung, professor of materials science and engineering, Penn State.
Researchers create virtual mobile tour of University Park campus
A Penn State research group in the Department of Geography developed a mobile app that offers an immersive virtual tour of class gifts and public art across University Park.
EMS Graduate Poster Competition showcases outstanding research across college
Graduate students Natalie Briggs, Joshua Woda and Nathan Smith received top recognition during the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences’ Graduate Student Poster Competition on April 12 at Steidle Building on the University Park campus.
Penn State graduate student selected for NASA astronaut program
Zena Cardman, a doctoral student in Penn State’s College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, was named a member of NASA’s 2017 class of astronauts on June 7. Vice President Mike Pence joined NASA officials in introducing the 12 men and women during a ceremony at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Low cost, scalable water-splitting fuels the future hydrogen economy
The "clean-energy economy" always seems a few steps away but never quite here. Fossil fuels still power transportation, heating and cooling, and manufacturing, but a team of scientists from Penn State and Florida State University have come one step closer to inexpensive, clean hydrogen fuel with a lower cost and industrially scalable catalyst that produces pure hydrogen through a low-energy water-splitting process.
Industrial engineering faculty, students honored at annual industry conference
Several faculty and students within the Harold and Inge Marcus Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering were honored for excellence at the Industrial and Systems Engineering Research Conference in Pittsburgh.
Penn Staters' voices heard at science march in Washington, D.C.
More than 130 members of the Penn State and State College communities traveled to Washington, D.C., last month to take part in the March for Science, a nonpartisan event organized to rally support for science.
Integrative approach needed to protect crop biodiversity, researcher says
In a commentary in the April issue of Nature Plants, Karl Zimmerer, professor of geography, argues that a comprehensive approach to protecting the human use of biodiversity of agricultural crops is vital to a sustainable food future that addresses global hunger, increasing populations and changing climate.