Tom Baker (Start Date: 7/1/2003)
Professor of Entomology

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.

Seth Blumsack (Start Date: 8/1/2007)
Assistant Professor of Energy Policy and Economics

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.

Kathryn Brasier (Start Date: 1/1/2003)
Assistant Professor of Rural Sociology

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

Donald Brown (Start Date: 8/17/2007)
Associate Professor of Environmental Ethics, Science, and Law

Kenneth Davis (Start Date: 7/1/2000)
Associate Professor of Meteorology
Director: Advanced Center for Carbon Cycle Research and Education (ACRE)

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

James Freihaut (Start Date: 7/1/2002)
Associate Professor of Architectural Engineering

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.

Adam Glick (Start Date: 1/1/2005)
Associate Professor of Veterinary Science

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.

Michael Gooseff (Start Date: 8/15/2007)
Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering
Hartz Family Career Development Professor

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.

Bryan Grenfell (Start Date: 9/24/2004)
Alumni Professor of Biology

Population biologist with interests in population processes at different scales; spatio-temporal dynamics of infectious disease; and pathogen phylogenies.

Michael Hickner (Start Date: 7/1/2007)
Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering

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

Edward Holmes (Start Date: 1/1/2005)
Professor of Biology

Research integrates ideas from a number of different fields, most notably evolutionary genetics, virology and the ecology of infectious disease. Current focus: RNA virus study systems in evolutionary genetics, comparative genomics, and molecular epidemiology.

Peter Hudson (Start Date: 12/1/2002)
Willaman Professor of Biology

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

Scott Isard (Start Date: 8/1/2004)
Professor of Aerobiology

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

Michael Janik (Start Date: 8/51/2006)
Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering

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.

Jason Kaye (Start Date: 1/3/2005)
Assistant Professor of Soil Biogeochemistry

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.

Klaus Keller (Start Date: 1/1/2002)
Assistant Professor of Geosciences

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.

Todd LaJeunesse (Start Date: )
Assistant Professor of Biology

Angela Lueking (Start Date: 9/1/2003)
Assistant Professor of Energy and Mineral Engineering

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.

Lee Newsom (Start Date: 1/1/2002)
Associate Professor of Anthropology

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

Curtis Omiecinski (Start Date: 7/1/2002)
Professor of Veterinary Science
H. Thomas and Dorothy Willits Hallowell Chair in Agricultural Sciences

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.

Eric Post (Start Date: 8/1/2000)
Assistant Professor of Biology

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.

Tom Richard (Start Date: 10/1/2004)
Associate Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering

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.

Stephan Schuster Start Date: 1/2/2005)
Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

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.

Erica Smithwick (Start Date: 7/1/2007)
Assistant Professor of Geography

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.

Zhengmin Qian (Start Date: 1/1/2002)
Assistant Professor of Health Evaluation Sciences

Research interests include exposure measurement and risk assessment of environmental pollution; children's environmental health; and air pollution epidemiology.

Patrick Reed(Start Date: 9/1/2002)
Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering

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

John (Jay) M. Regan (Start Date: 1/1/2002)
Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Innovative research involving microbial processes in drinking water and wastewater treatment systems including molecular biology techniques to the study of microbial ecology in environmental systems.

Peter Wilf (Start Date: 7/1/2002)
Assistant Professor of Geosciences

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