News

Penn State and Shell USA Inc. have announced the launch of a collaboration. An initial commitment from Shell of more than $1 million will fund initiatives focused on energy transition, decarbonization, polymer recycling and biodiversity, and the creation of an inclusive and innovative energy workforce.

The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) has awarded $600,000 to Penn State’s Silicon Carbide Innovation Alliance (SCIA) to develop a series of educational courses, workshops, and paid academic and industrial internships focused on workforce development in Pennsylvania for the growing semiconductor industry.  

Penn State students, Carnegie Mellon students, Penn State faculty and staff from the Franco Harris Pittsburgh Center at Penn State are collaborating to use existing fiber optic cables to predict dangerous potential geohazards like flooding, landslides and sinkholes in Pittsburgh.

Ancient fossil beans about the size of modern limes, and among the largest seeds in the fossil record, may provide new insight into the evolution of today’s diverse Southeast Asian and Australian rainforests, according to Penn State researchers who identified the plants.

Christopher Ramos, a U.S. Air Force veteran who is a Penn State World Campus student, has received the University's 2024 Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to the geospatial intelligence community.

Lynn Persing, administrative support manager in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, was recognized as an employee who has gone above and beyond what’s asked of her in their work at the University.   

Moogega Cooper, trailblazing engineer of the famed Mars rover Perseverance mission for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will present “Diversity in STEAM from a Real-Life Guardian of the Galaxy” at 5 p.m. on Feb. 23 in Berg Auditorium, 100 Huck Life Sciences Building, Penn State University Park.

Erica Smithwick, distinguished professor of geography, has been named director of the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute at Penn State, effective Jan. 1.

The Colorado River basin, which supplies water to 40 million people in the Western United States, is threatened by historic drought, a changing climate and water demands from growing cities. One potential response involves encouraging individuals to conserve water, and a new study may help identify those most likely to change their behaviors to contribute, according to scientists.

José Aponte an astrochemist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, will discuss the abundance and molecular distribution of amino acids, and other biologically relevant molecules extracted from meteorites, in a talk titled "Organic Astrochemistry 101: Meteorites, Origins of Life, and Sample-Return Missions" at 4 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 30.