PSIEE People

His research focuses on plant cell wall dynamics, with the goal of informing efforts to produce sustainable food, materials, and bioenergy from plants. We use in vivo imaging and cell biological, molecular, biochemical, and genetic approaches in the model plants Arabidopsis thaliana and Physcomitrella patens.
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Research focuses on insect pheromones and odor-mediated behavior; neuroethological studies of olfaction; identification and development of insect attractants for IPM systems and development of olfaction-based biosensors.

Her research aims to understand the patterns and processes that underlie disturbance and ecosystem recovery, particularly how shifting fire regimes are reconfiguring tropical forests, encouraging non-native grass invasion, and affecting the global climate

Research interests include energy and electric power systems, network and graph theory, regulatory economics, antitrust and competition policy, industrial organization, and the economics of infrastructure.

Boyer's research explores hydrological and ecological processes that affect water quality (e.g., nutrients, metals, and sediments) and water quantity (e.g., streamflow and water yield) issuing from watersheds.

Researches the relationship between human behavior and environmental quality, particularly the interaction between human and aquatic systems.

Wetland restoration, reference wetland monitoring protocols, wetland ecological indictor modeling, constructed wetlands, and habiatat modeling.

Cao's research interests include international and comparative political economy, environmental and energy politics, network analysis, and spatial models. .

Chen's research interests include bioenergy, catalytic conversion of biomass, and nanomaterials for energy applications

Davis's general projects are directed towards determining the etiology of hardwood tree diseases, as well as understanding the temporal progression of disease using tree-ring analysis.

Studies the relevance of the atmospheric boundary layer to climate, atmospheric chemistry, biogeochemical cycles and the hydrologic cycle.

Research interests include tochastic and numerical modeling of groundwater flow and solute transport, modeling large-scale hydrologic systems.

Research efforts are focused on the growth and characterization of oxide thin films. This class of materials has an unparalleled spectrum of physical properties which makes them very interesting for a variety of applications ranging from energy generation, sensors and actuators to memory and logic device concepts.

Goals of Freedman's research are to understand 1) the interaction of radiation with aerosol particles, 2) the processing of aerosol particles in the environment, and 3) the interactions between aerosol particles and clouds.  Through such studies, we can better understand the direct and indirect impacts of aerosol particles on climate, which are currently not well characterized.

Joins Penn State with twenty-two years of industry experience with United Technologies Research Center. Focus is on defining, characterizing and quantifying enclosed space air quality issues, as well as system constraints imposed on potential air treatment/filtration solutions.

He joined the Electrical Engineering Department in the fall of 2011 following two years as the George Wells Beadle postdoctoral fellow at Argonne National Laboratory, where he focused on solar energy-related research.

Research focuses on the molecular mechanisms and signaling pathways that regulate progression of squamous tumors from a benign to malignant phenotype. Gaining an understanding the signaling pathways controlling squamous tumor progression is critical to develop new therapeutic strategies.

My research focuses on the characterization and numerical simulation of hydrologic processes and associated biogeochemical cycling. Much of my past and current research has included simulation of introduced and natural tracer transport.

His research focuses on environmental redox chemistry. Redox reactions play important roles in many natural and engineered processes, including the fate of pollutants in natural waters and the viability of waste repositories. His work utilizes advanced spectroscopic and electrochemical approaches to understand the mechanisms and thermodynamics of environmental redox processes.

Gu's main objective is to characterize the molecular and cellular mechanisms controlling cellulose biosynthesis in higher plants. Her lab uses live cell imaging to visualize the cellulose synthesis machinery in living plant cells.

Research interests include soil and water conservation engineering, runoff and sediment transport processes, watershed hydrology, and GIS applications.

Research and teaching interests include all aspects of polymeric materials, polymer micro- and nano-structure, transport characterization, electrochemistry, and new materials for energy applications.

Studies the population dynamics of infectious diseases in wildlife, particularly those of concern to humans and conservation.

His research focuse on the study climate change mitigation and adaptation in forested systems.  Research uses both field studies and modeling to address a range of topics including: forest carbon, wildfire, species diversity, and productivity. Earth Systems Ecology Lab

Research focus on plant pathogen and insect pest systems as well as the aerial movement of plant pathogens by insect vectors.

Current research focuses on catalytic processes of relevance to alternative energy conversion technologies, and current research concentrates on electro-catalytic systems such as fuel cell electrodes.

Research focus is on feedbacks between terrestrial ecosystems and environmental change. Uses principles of ecology and biogeochemistry to understand the flow and fate of nitrogen at scales ranging from individual microbial processes, to whole ecosystems and landscapes, to regions.

Ties together geosciences and economics in order to understand, detect, and predict changes in the oceanic carbon cycle and circulation and to develop economically sound policies to control atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Kemanian develops and applies comprehensive agricultural and natural systems simulation models with the goal of improving productivity and environmental stewardship.

Kennet is an archaeologist known for his work on the effects of climate change on past human societies. Research topics of special interest include the relationship between environmental change (including resource productivity), subsistence practices, and sociopolitical systems.

Currently active areas include developing and studying novel membranes and materials for environmental and energy applications. Cell membranes have specific and elegant transport mechanisms for all ions and nutrients needed for survival. They also play a major role in producing the cell’s energy currency, ATP, by providing a barrier to H+ and helping maintain an electrochemical gradient. Membrane proteins play a major role in providing all these functions.

LaJeunesse conducts basic research that focuses primarily on the ecology, biogeography and evolution of zooxanthellae, the photosynthetic unicellular protists that provide the chemical energy for reef-building corals through a mutualistic relationship with calcifying cnidarians (scleractinia).

Lear's group is interestedin systems in which electron transfer and electronic coupling play an integral role.  Both fundamental and applied projects involving electron transfer are pursued and these involve both the synthesis (chemical or material) of new systems as well as their characterization. 

Her current research focuses on understanding coupled multiphase flow and multicomponent reactive transport processes relevant to geological CO2 sequestration, microbially enhanced oil recovery (meor), and environmental remediation.

Research interest focuses on bioenergy production, including biological hydrogen production; and microbial fuel cells.

Research interests include: hydrogen storage in carbon nanomaterials; hydrogen spillover; synthesis of carbon nanofibers and nanotubes; metal oxide catalysis; green chemistry, green engineering, green catalysis; environmental sustainability; and green engineering education.

Research interests include char and coke structure, molecular modeling, and diffusion of molecules in coal structure.

His research interests are in landscape ecology, geographic information science (GIS), remote sensing, and soil science.

Interested in paleoethnobotany, environmental archaeology, and human ecology, focusing on human use of biotic resources, plant domestication, horticultural systems, and prehistoric landscape dynamics.

Renowned researcher in molecular toxicology and toxicogenomics . Leads research in the areas of drug/xenobiotic metabolism and conducts in vivo experimentation with transgenic models relevant to animal and human health.

Perdew's research focuses on the molecular mechanism(s) of toxicity, dioxin-mediated signal transduction, regulation of cellular homeostasis by the Ah receptor, Ah receptor-mediated control of gene expression; biochemistry of heat shock protein complexes.

Researches climate change and its effects on life history traits and population and community dynamics to improve our understanding of how and why individuals, populations, and communities respond to changes in climate.

Research interersts include regulation of gene expression by oxidative, glycative, and hypertonic stressors; Molecular mechanisms underlying the antioxidant role of selenium; Lipid biochemistry-prostaglandins, leukotrienes, and oxidized fatty acids as nuclear receptor ligands.

My lab integrates population biology, ecology, molecular tools and theory to address fundamental and applied questions related to vector arthropods and the pathogens they transmit, with emphasis on release of genetically-modified mosquitoes for disease control, pathogen transmission dynamics and bioterrorism issues.

Developing innovative management modeling approaches for environmental systems, which effectively utilize data in combination with simulation, optimization, and information technologies.

His work focuses on biological systems for waste conversion to energy, including electricity and hydrogen in bioelectrochemical systems, hydrogen via dark fermentation, and methane in anaerobic digestion; and also biological nitrogen and phosphorus removal in drinking water, wastewater, and natural environments.

Developing sustainable strategies for a bio-based economy. Research applies microbial bioconversion technologies to industrial biomass, agricultural byproducts, and manures for energy production and value-added manufacturing.

Research interestst include: heterogeneous catalysis, catalyst design and synthesis, time-resolved FTIR spectroscopy of condensed systems, x-ray absorption spectroscopy (EXAFS, XANES), and reaction mechanisms in nanoscale systems, photocatalysis.

Research in the Salis laboratory focuses on the development of rational design methods for engineering synthetic biological systems - metabolic pathways, genetic circuits, and genomes.

Schmitz's main research focus is on the development of hybrid computational fluid dynamics methods for the prediction of wind turbine aerodynamics and helicopter hover performance.

Studies the genomes from related bacteria: host-adapted and free-living species. Interested in the molecular mechanisms that have driven the speciation process from free-living last common ancestors to the obligatory pathogenic species that we see today.

Dr. Shcherbakova specializes in energy economics, regulation of oil, gas, and electricity markets, and firm and financial market risk.

I work at the interface of landscape and ecosystem ecology, focusing on the influence of spatial pattern on ecosystem function. More generally, my research cuts through traditional disciplinary bounds to ask synthetic questions about ecosystem function through space and time.

Research areas include: catalytic fuel processing for clean energy applications such as ultra clean fuels, hydrogen and synthesis gas production, and fuel cell applications; and carbon dioxide CO2 capture and utilization as fuels and chemicals; 3) catalysis for synthesis of value-added chemicals such as shape-selective synthesis of monomers for advanced aromatic polymer materials.

A common theme in his research has been energy and materials. Specific areas include energy utilization, conversion, storage and sensors for these processes. Related areas include advanced light-weight, ultra-strong composites and nanolubricants for tribology.

His research expertise includes atomistic-scale simulations of chemical reactions; reactive force fields (ReaxFF); quantum chemistry; combustion reactions; interface chemistry; and organic geochemistry.

His research interests include the design and synthesis of nanostructured functional materials, clean energy technologies including Li batteries and solar cells.

Ties together paleobotany and paleoecology to study the climatic and floristic history of the Western Hemisphere.

His research interests focus on the statistical modeling of air pollutant concentrations to better understand both acute (short-term) and chronic (long-term) human exposures and their impacts on human health.