UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State’s Climate Consortium announced the awarded workshops from its Climate Solutions Accelerator program. Eleven Penn State researchers were awarded funding to hold workshops in spring 2024 designed to engage a wide range of participants in creating and deploying climate change solutions.
Erica Smithwick, distinguished professor of geography and director of the Climate Consortium, said these workshops are valuable investments that provide resources to research teams and burgeoning projects that may become tomorrow’s climate solutions.
“These collaborative workshops are crucial for project success,” Smithwick said. “They enhance projects and teamwork through stronger communication and improved creativity. Workshops allow attendees to exchange ideas from diverse perspectives and boost the quality of the products that emerge.”
As a part of its mission, the Climate Consortium launched the Climate Solutions Accelerator, a program designed to foster impactful research and bring effective climate solutions to communities in Pennsylvania and around the world. The program is designed to help launch promising projects, engage partners for real-world impact and implement place-based solutions. In 2023, Penn State researchers were invited to propose Accelerator workshops as level one of the program.
The awarded workshops and principal investigators are:
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Biomaterials and Nature-Based Solutions: Achieving a Sustainable, Decarbonized, and Climate-Resilient Built Environment Workshop led by Zoubeida Ounaies, College of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering
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Building Capacity for Subnational Climate Action led by Peter Buck, Penn State Sustainability; Brandi Robinson, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering
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Carbon Management: Capture, Transport, and Geological Storage led by John Wang, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering
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Climate-Driven Pluvial Flooding: Impacts on Environmental Non-Migrants in Central Pennsylvania led by Shirley Clark, School of Science, Engineering and Technology, Penn State Harrisburg
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Developing and Evaluating Climate Solutions Educational Strategies through Leave No Trace led by Derrick Taff, College of Health and Human Development, Department of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management
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Developing Transformative Youth-Centered Research Agendas and Intergenerational Collaborations to Foster Climate Justice Solutions led by Mark Ortiz, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, Department of Geography
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Forest Carbon Assessment and Management Across Scales: Using Improved Forest Management for Climate Resilience and Mitigation led by Ben Lockwood, College of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Ecosystem Science and Management
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Implementing State-Level Climate Change Policy and Management for Water Resources in California led by Christine Kirchhoff, College of Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
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Penn State – Belizean Foundation for Research and Environmental Education Consortium Workshop: Agroforestry Systems for Sustainable and Climate Resilient Solutions to Climate Change and Ecosystem Conservation led by Mark Guiltinan, College of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Plant Science
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Penn State Mineral Dust and GeoHealth Workshop led by Shimin Liu, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering
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Scaling One Health Approach through Multistakeholder Engagement in Arthropod Adaptations to Ecosystem Plasticity Associated with Climate Change led by James Mutunga, College of Engineering, School of Engineering Design and Innovation
In spring 2024, level two of the Accelerator program will request proposals for projects. In level one, the Accelerator program offered related workshops to help develop ideas. However, having a workshop is not required to submit a proposal in level two.