The Lehigh Valley Writing Project (LVWP) will host its annual Best Practices Conference from 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 26, at the Penn State Lehigh Valley campus in Center Valley, Pa.

The conference features interactive workshops and presentations for teachers to share professional teaching practices. The keynote presentation, "Mentor Texts and the Common Core," will be given by Rose Cappelli and Lynne Dorfman. Cappelli and Dorfman will also sign copies of their books during the conference.

he campus community is invited to a special musical performance presented by students in the guitar and choir classes at Penn State Lehigh Valley with artists-in-residence Ian S. Holmes II and Josh Klein. The event will be held from 1 to 2 p.m. Dec. 12, in The Jerome and Martha Markowitz Music Room at the campus in Center Valley.

Jacqueline McLaughlin, associate professor of biology, will return to Jiangnan University, in Wuxi, China, from April 27 to May 10 as a visiting scholar to teach an international course on environmental science to freshmen in the College of Civil Environmental Engineering. While there she will be continuing her research to assess transformation in the undergraduate Chinese classrooms that embrace inquiry-based learning. She will also be presenting "Global Environmental Science Education in the 21st Century: Addressing the Challenges and Opportunities that Face China through Online Innovation" on Jan. 16 at the 2013 EDUCAUSE Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference at the Waterfront Hotel in Baltimore.

Two Penn State Lehigh Valley students were selected to present their undergraduate research at the fifth Smith Undergraduate Science Research Symposium held Nov. 10 at Penn State York. Richard George and Vinod Jeyaretnam joined students and faculty from eight Penn State campuses to present discipline-based science undergraduate research projects. George, under the supervision of Tai-Yin Huang, associate professor of physics, presented "Gravity Wave Effects on Atmospheric Airglow in the MLT Region." Jeyaretnam, under the supervision of Jacqueline McLaughlin, associate professor of biology, presented "Chronotropic Effects of Select Cardiovascular Drugs on the Developing Vertebrate Heart."

As the campus' centennial draws to a close, a limited number of copies of the commemorative "Roaring Recipes" cookbook are still available for purchase. The cookbook features recipes from Penn State Lehigh Valley students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends of the campus, and is available for purchase at the campus bookstore and online at www.lvwccookbook.webs.com. Each cookbook is $20 with proceeds benefiting student groups, adult learners, and the campus.

After nearly 40 years of service to Penn State Lehigh Valley's Office of Continuing Education, Sandra M. "Sandy" Litzenberger retired in October 2012. In September 1973, Litzenberger began her Penn State career working part time in the then Penn State Allentown Ridge Avenue facility in Continuing Education (CE) processing bulk mailings and assisting in the registration office. She became a full-time secretary in 1974 in the CE office and was involved in all aspects of continuing education including registration, filing, typing and working with students and faculty, assisting in setting up undergraduate and graduate evening and summer program credit courses, noncredit activities, and management development programs.

Charles Swanson, professor of economics and finance at Temple University, will be the featured speaker for the final fall Faculty Lecture Series at 1 p.m. Nov. 16, in room 302 at Penn State Lehigh Valley campus in Center Valley. Swanson will discuss "Oil Prices and the Macroeconomy since 1960." This event is free and open to the public.