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Jared Bunch, a junior studying mechanical engineering, presenting at the Leonhard Speaking Contest.

Mechanical engineering student shines in Leonhard Speaking Contest

2/18/19

Currently in its 19th year, the Leonhard Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Education has challenged engineering undergraduates to hone their communications skills with a 10-minute presentation conveying an engineering solution to a societal problem.

banded hare-wallaby

Indigenous hunters have positive impacts on food webs in desert Australia

2/17/19

Australia has the highest rate of mammal extinction in the world. Resettlement of indigenous communities resulted in the spread of invasive species, the absence of human-set fires, and a general cascade in the interconnected food web that led to the largest mammalian extinction event ever recorded. In this case, the absence of direct human activity on the landscape may be the cause of the extinctions, according to a Penn State anthropologist.

Lint Macro

Tiny fibers create unseen plastic pollution

2/16/19

While the polyester leisure suit was a 1970s mistake, polyester and other synthetic fibers like nylon are still around and are a major contributor to the microplastics load in the environment, according to a Penn State materials scientist, who suggests switching to biosynthetic fibers to solve this problem.

Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence

'Teaching and Learning Scholarship: Doing research on your classroom practice'

2/15/19

An interactive session, "Teaching and Learning Scholarship: Doing research on your classroom practice," facilitated by Laura Cruz and Wideline Seraphin, will allow participants to become more familiar with teaching and learning scholarship in general and explore the possibility of researching (and publishing) what happens in their own classrooms. The session will be held from noon to 1:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 19, in 315 Rider Building, University Park.

Reuben Kraft, Penn State assistant professor of mechanical and biomedical engineering

Kraft awarded NSF CAREER Award focused on brain mechanics

2/15/19

Bolstered by a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, Reuben Kraft, Penn State assistant professor of mechanical and biomedical engineering, seeks to contribute to the understanding of brain trauma by developing advanced computer models that link neuroimaging results, biomechanical assessments and computational modeling of the brain.

Landscape architecture students engage with the community at the Feb. 7 meeting.

Landscape architecture plays central role in University’s MG2V project

2/15/19

In December, Penn State President Eric Barron announced that the University has partnered with ClearWater Conservancy to explore environmentally responsible land use options for the roughly 365 acres it owns between Whitehall Road and Rothrock State Forest at Musser Gap. At the request of the Office of the President, the Department of Landscape Architecture took the reins of the design project and Eliza Pennypacker, professor and head of the department, jumped at the opportunity to lead this important effort.

Jennifer Miller, winner of the 2018 I AM STEM competition, delivers her keynote address to attendees of the annual ENVISION: STEM Career Day for Young Women event in January 2019.

I AM STEM empowers students to inspire the next generation of scientists

2/15/19

The "I AM STEM" competition, founded in 2017 by the Eberly College of Science's Office of Science Outreach, is a way to provide science students with the opportunity to develop their speaking skills and gain confidence in their ability to inspire the next generation of scientists.

Julie Reed

Cherokee Nation citizen/Native American history scholar joins history department

2/15/19

Associate Professor of History Julie Reed, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, recently joined the Penn State faculty, joining a cohort of scholars who focus on indigenous studies in the Department of History in the College of the Liberal Arts. Concurrently, Penn State became one of only 20 institutions to be admitted as members in the prestigious Newberry Consortium in American Indian Studies.

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