Administrator

Allison Beese, professor of materials science and engineering and of mechanical engineering at Penn State, has been named the senior associate director of Penn State’s new National Security Institute. She will begin her appointment on May 15.

 Madeline Yozwiak, a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University, will give the talk, “Grid Hardening and the Effectiveness of Climate Adaptation in the U.S. Electricity Sector,” at noon on Wednesday, March 18.

 researchers in the Department of Geography studied how the Northern California landscape responded to extreme wildfire, and study how prior fires influenced chances of forest recovery. 

EMS recognized exceptional staff at its annual Dean’s Staff Appreciation Luncheon held in December 2025 at the Nittany Lion Inn. The awards program consists of three annual awards, the Future Star Award, Circle of Excellence, and the EMS Ambassador. The Charles Hosler Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Staff Award was also recognized.

Fourth-year environmental systems engineering major Sofia Hoffman spent a month in Ecuador’s Amazon Basin researching contamination linked to off-the-grid oil extraction as part of Assistant Professor of Geography Belén Noroña’s research in the Yasuní National Park.

Penn State’s Center for Socially Responsible Artificial Intelligence (CSRAI) has announced the winners of its 2026 Teach-a-thon. Liz Hajek, professor of geosciences, and Anastasia Piliouras, assistant professor of geosciences, received honorable mention.

As part of our regular “We Are!” feature, we recognize 18 Penn Staters who have gone above and beyond what’s asked of them in their work at the University including Shannon Knudsen and Kayla Pedmo.

The inaugural Penn State-Ghana Research Partnerships Seed Grant Program has awarded nine projects including three researchers from EMS.

Shannon Speed, Paula Gunn Allen Chair and professor of American Indian studies, gender studies and anthropology at UCLA, will deliver the Penn State Department of Geography’s annual E. Willard and Ruby S. Miller Endowed Lecture at noon on Friday, March 27.

Accurate air quality forecasts are critical for helping people limit exposure and for guiding regulatory action. However, a new study led by Fan Wu, a doctoral student in meteo, suggests some of the computer models that agencies rely on may not be getting it right.