Institutes of Energy and the Environment at Penn State

Penn State’s Institutes of Energy and the Environment (IEE) focuses on interdisciplinary research related to all aspects of energy and the environment. Our researchers are co-funded faculty from across the University, including the colleges of Agricultural Sciences, Liberal Arts, Earth and Mineral Sciences, Engineering, Medicine, and the Eberly College of Science.

IEE is part of the Office of the Vice President of Research and one of seven interdisciplinary research institutes.

Mission

Office of the Vice President for Research Interdisciplinary Institutes:

IEE fosters and facilitates interdisciplinary research and collaboration to positively impact important energy and environmental challenges. We support more than sixty co-funded Penn State faculty members. In addition, we bring together hundreds of extraordinary affiliate faculty members, staff, and students to advance the University’s energy and environmental research missions.

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Penn State is a global research leader in many areas of great importance to society. Our goal is to help translate data into knowledge, technical innovations, and real-world impacts. We believe that Penn State is uniquely equipped to address five major research themes (listed to right), all requiring interdisciplinary problem solving and solution innovation.

Clinical and Translational Science Institute Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences Institute for Cyberscience Institutes of Energy and the Environment Materials Research Institute Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute Social Science Research Institute

Research Themes: • • • • •

Transforming data into knowledge is one of IEE’s guiding principles. This knowledge can then be used to make positive impacts on our community, society, and world.

Climate and Ecosystem Change Future Energy Supply Health and the Environment Smart Energy Systems Water and Biogeochemical Cycles

The Institutes of Energy and the Environment support research through four key methods: •

Networking and Collaboration

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Funding Opportunities

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Training and Development

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Facilities and Instrumentation

Contact Us:

iee.psu.edu

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iee@psu.edu

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814-863-0291

Associated Research Centers and Institutes

As a part of our mission, we collaborate with and support multiple Penn State centers and institutes across the University’s colleges and departments.

This includes research groups whose missions are closely aligned with our goals of fostering and facilitating energy and environmental research at Penn State.

Brendan Culleton, a Penn State research associate, working in the Accelerator Mass Spectrometer Facility in the Land and Water Research Building

IEE’s Associated Research Centers and Institutes: • • • • • • •

Batteries and Energy Storage Center (BEST) Center for Marine Science and Technology (CMAST) Center for Molecular Toxicology and Carcinogenesis (CMTC) Earth and Environmental Systems Institute (EESI) Ecology Institute Earth and Mineral Sciences Energy Institute Engineering, Energy and Environmental Institute (E3I)

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Environment and Natural Resources Institute (ENRI) Institute of Natural Gas Research (INGaR) Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research (MCOR) Pennsylvania Spatial Data Clearinghouse (PASDA) Polar Center Rock Ethics Institute Sustainability Institute

Networking and Collaboration At IEE, we believe in and strive to connect collaborative interdisciplinary teams of researchers.

The complexity of the energy and environmental challenges that we face as a society requires experts from multiple areas to collaborate and work together to successfully develop strategies and solutions for these challenges. To help researchers network and build professional relationships, IEE hosts a wide variety of events, workshops, and programs.

Training and Development

Tom Richard, IEE’s director, speaking to Penn State researchers during a funding-opportunity workshop

IEE helps faculty members, researchers, and graduate students improve their ability to translate their work into accurate and usable communications through science communication training workshops. The goal is to help researchers clearly articulate their work so that it is easily understood by news organizations and beyond. IEE has also conducted other trainings and workshops, including facilitation training and workshops on opportunities within Penn State.

Funding Opportunities

Linda Birnbaum, director of National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program, presenting the Spring Health and the Environment Lecture

IEE provides funding for research and scholarship related to our mission. Annually, our Seed Grant Program is available to Penn State faculty members and researchers. The program funds interdisciplinary research proposals aimed to enhance and focus on IEE’s research themes. In the program’s first three years, more than $1.2 million were awarded to fifty-seven projects, which has resulted in more than $4 million in external funding. In 2017, more than $500,000 was made available to Penn State faculty members. Other examples of funding include graduate student support, matching support for large interdisciplinary grants, and start-up funding to further exploration of initiatives.

EESL Facilities and Instrumentation Researchers in the Penn State community as well as in industry can access IEE’s cutting-edge facilities and instruments to further their research and development. IEE’s Energy and Environmental Sustainability Laboratories (EESL) consist of multiple facilities across the University Park campus.

Additionally, IEE supports the Materials Research Lab Building, which houses laboratories and centers doing world-class energy research, such as the BEST Center.

EESL Facilities Accelerator Mass Spectrometer Radiocarbon Facility High-precision radiocarbon dating in a wide range of carbon-bearing materials

Center for Quantitative Imaging Facility Micro- and nano-x-ray-computed tomography imaging and characterization of complex 3D structures of natural and synthetic materials that provides non-destructive access to internal structures, composition, and processes

Water Quality Lab Facility The water quality facility is equipped with a full range of analytical instruments for analyses of various water quality parameters

Satellite EESL (SEESL) Facilities •

A stopped flow spectrometer that is used to measure the kinetics of fast reactions that have half-lives as short as a few milliseconds

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A gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer that is used characterize organic pollutants and degradation products as well as emerging contaminants in natural waters

Laboratory for Isotopes and Metals in the Environment (LIME) Facility

Deployable EESL (DEESL) Facility

Measurements of isotopes, major and trace elemental compositions in a wide range of materials using state of the art instruments, which include ICP-AES, ICP-MS, MC-ICP-MS, TIMS, and EA-IRMS

The DEESL facility is equipped with various portable/deployable instruments that are available for short-term as well as long-term field data collection to all Penn State faculty and student researchers.

Contact Odette Mina, EESL managing director, for more information on EESL | oom5021@psu.edu

Penn State is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer, and is committed to providing employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status. This publication is available in alternative media on request. U.Ed. RES 17-41