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Penn State Institutes of Energy and the Environment
The mission of the Penn State Institutes of Energy and the Environment (PSIEE) is to expand the University’s capacity to pursue the newest frontiers in energy and environmental research. To support their mission, the PSIEE encourages cooperation across disciplines and the participation of local, state, federal, and international stakeholders. The institute was established in 1999 as the Penn State Institutes of the Environment to develop and integrate new knowledge of the biological and physical environment and its impact on individual and social wellbeing. In the past year, an energy science and engineering component was coupled with the environmental mission, and the new PSIEE was established.
The PSIEE is the central coordinating structure for energy and environmental research, education, and outreach at Penn State. It engages all of the major colleges at Penn State involved in energy and environmental teaching and research in an effort to ensure interdisciplinary collaboration and coherent programs across the University. PSIEE is affiliated with colleges ranging from Liberal Arts to the Milton S. Hershy College of Medicine, as well as various institutes and centers (figure 2.1).
The PSIEE is focused around a set of major themes that reflect areas of significant challenge and societal interest, which tend to cross traditional disciplinary boundaries. Current focus is on the following seven themes: air quality; biodiversity and ecosystems; energy; global change; health and the environment; industrial ecology and green engineering; and water resources.
The Energy Institute, a PSIEE affiliate within the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, conducts research in carbon materials, clean fuels and catalysis, electrochemicals, petroleum and natural gas, stationary power, sustainable energy, and transportation. Dr. Chunshan Song, who was featured in the inaugural edition of The IRON last year, has recently been appointed as the director of the Energy Institute. Dr. Song is professor of fuel science in the department of energy and geo-environmental engineering and is the leader of the Clean Fuels and Catalysis Program within the Institute. “The nation needs to diversify its energy production, while simultaneously improving the efficiency by which it generates and utilizes that energy,” said Dr. Song. “We must strive to expand the use of our limited indigenous resources while relying less on non-domestic sources of energy. The development and commercialization of new energy technologies will assist the nation in meeting its energy needs while spurring economic growth.”
Another affiliate, the College of Agricultural Sciences, created an Agriculture and Environment Science and Policy Center in an effort to better address the environmental issues related to agriculture. Falling under the college’s Environment and Natural Resources Institute, the Center will be a focal point for cross-disciplinary research and outreach on air and water quality, soil conservation, invasive species, climate change and other environmental issues of consequence to agriculture.
“Historically, we have treasured agriculture for many reasons beyond its role in providing food for our tables -- its contributions to the economic and social fabric of rural communities, scenic country sides, and our heritage,” says Dr. Jim Shortle, director of the college’s Environment and Natural Resources Institute. “Increasingly, we also see the tremendous value of agriculture’s contributions to the functioning of ecosystems, and the crucial importance of maintaining and enhancing ecosystem services from agriculture, such as carbon sequestration."
The Director of PSIEE, Dr. William Easterling, recently became the new Dean of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences on July 1, 2007. The Office of the Vice President for Research is currently searching for a new director to continue the excellent leadership that Dr. Easterling has provided.
Contributions for this article by Jeff Mulhollem