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Olivia DiPrinzio, who graduated from Penn State in 2024 with honors in energy engineering and Earth science and policy, is now associate director of the Pennsylvania Environmental Resource Consortium.

Penn State's College of Earth and Mineral Sciences (EMS) recognized exceptional students and faculty for their academic excellence, service and leadership during its annual Wilson Awards Celebration, held on March 30. 

Penn State recognized 42 graduate students with annual University awards that celebrate students' impact in research, scholarship, teaching, outreach, mentoring and more. 

The Penn State Department of Geography will continue its spring 2025 Coffee Hour lecture series with a talk by Richard B. Alley, Evan Pugh University Professor in the Department of Geosciences and the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute at Penn State. Alley’s talk, "Sea-Level Rise from Ice Sheets: How Bad Could It Be?" will examine the uncertainties surrounding sea-level rise and the scientific challenges of predicting future ice-sheet behavior.

Four Penn State faculty members in areas ranging from agriculture to the biological sciences, geology and physics have been elected to the latest cohort of fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science.

Key agreements in the “Law of the River,” which encompasses more than 100 years of regulations, laws, court decisions and more focused on managing the Colorado River, are set to expire next year. First established in 1922 as the Colorado River Compact, the guidelines split water management and allocation among seven states. Now, those states — Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming — are renegotiating the terms of use for the water. Drought, increased temperatures and decreased snowpack in the Rocky Mountains are complicating the matter, according to Antonia Hadjimichael, assistant professor of geosciences at Penn State.  

Chris Widga, director or the Earth and Mineral Sciences’ Museum & Art Gallery and research professor of geosciences, will give the talk, “Museums as partners in broader impact activities,” at 4 p.m. on Monday, March 3, in 112 Walker Building at Penn State University Park.

The Penn State Climate Consortium has awarded five workshops as a part of its Climate Solutions Accelerator Program to foster impactful research and bring effective climate solutions to communities in Pennsylvania and around the world.

“These workshops are designed to bring together diverse voices and innovative ideas, fostering collaboration and driving practical solutions that address both local and global climate challenges,” said Erica Smithwick, director of the Penn State Climate Consortium. “By focusing on key areas like community health, equitable climate action and cutting-edge technology, we aim to create lasting positive impacts for future generations.”

Three faculty from Penn State’s College of Earth and Mineral Sciences have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering. Members of the class of 2025 include, from left, Susan Brantley, Atherton Professor and Evan Pugh University Professor Emerita of Geosciences; Long-Qing Chen, Donald W. Hamer Professor of Materials Science and Engineering; and Russell Johns, George E. Trimble Chair of Energy and Mineral Sciences and professor of petroleum and natural gas engineering.

Humanity may not be extraordinary but rather the natural evolutionary outcome for our planet and likely others, according to a new model for how intelligent life developed on Earth.

“This is a significant shift in how we think about the history of life,” said Jennifer Macalady, professor of geosciences at Penn State and co-author on the paper.