2023 Geosciences Newsletter
The Department of Geosciences annual newsletter showcases the department's latest research discoveries, stories about outstanding alumni and students, departmental news, and more.
The Department of Geosciences annual newsletter showcases the department's latest research discoveries, stories about outstanding alumni and students, departmental news, and more.
Existing fiber optic cables used for high-speed internet and telecommunications, in combination with machine learning, may be able to help scientists track ground hazards in Pittsburgh. Tieyuan Zhu is leading an NSF $937,000 grant to further develop the low-cost monitoring approach.
Microfossils from Western Australia may capture a jump in the complexity of life that coincided with the rise of oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere and oceans, according to an international team of scientists.
The Earth’s crust continued a slow process of reworking for billions of years, rather than rapidly slowing its growth some 3 billion years ago, according to a Penn State-led research team. The new finding contradicts existing theories that suggest the rapid formation of tectonic plates earlier in Earth’s history, researchers said.
When the ground rumbles in Antarctica, it may be an icequake — like an earthquake but caused by the movement of ice, not rock. A new study by Penn State researchers found that these seismic events are driven by ocean tides at a major ice stream in West Antarctica.
Anyone who has taken a long road trip or bike ride has used a product of the spurge plant family — rubber.
University students in science and engineering are increasingly aware of the importance of data visualization and communication skills. For one thing, they understand they live in a data-driven world, so regardless of their future career choices, data skills are key. What’s more, they also know our world is increasingly fast-paced, so transferable skills like communication, data analysis, storytelling, and design would be valuable even if they transition in their studies or careers later on.
Sierra Melton, a doctoral student in the Penn State Department of Geosciences, was selected as one of 110 doctoral students in the United States and Canada to receive the prestigious $20,000 P.E.O. Scholar Award. The P.E.O. Scholar Awards program, established in 1991, provides substantial merit-based awards for U.S. and Canadian women who are pursuing a doctoral-level degree at an accredited college or university.
Set on pursuing a career in the music industry from a young age, Carl Fredrick Aquino never could have predicted that his career would lead him to follow the path to become a climate scientist at Penn State. But after six years of writing music for film, television and video games in Los Angeles, he decided to return to school, setting out on a mission to save the planet.