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Oil Biodegradation
A team of geoscientists traveled to the Gulf of Mexico to investigate the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The team, including Penn State doctoral student in biogeochemistry Uyen Nguyen, wanted to quantify the time that it takes for oil to break down at various depths. Bacteria and microbes consume oil, but conditions in the deep waters of the Gulf could slow down microbial metabolism....
Read MoreNSF CAREER Award
A faculty member at Penn State University (PSU) has won a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER award to create special statistical models of extreme weather. Benjamin Shaby, assistant professor of statistics and Penn State Institute for CyberScience faculty co-hire, will be looking at how to build infrastructure and prepare for events like forest fires and heavy rains. NSF CAREER awards are...
Read MoreSummer Dead Zones
Late season replenishment of oxygen associated with declining nutrient loads Scientists from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) have published results showing that dead zones in the lower Chesapeake Bay are beginning to break up earlier in the fall, which may be an indication that efforts to reduce nutrient pollution to the Bay are beginning to make an impact....
Read MorePlastics in the Ocean
Rob Hale, a professor at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), has been studying plastics since the 1990’s. His research in the past showed substantial levels of flame retardants, which are often added to plastics to reduce flammability, in wastewater, sewage, soils, sediments, dust, and in organisms. His findings led to worldwide limitations on these retardants, as they...
Read MoreUptick in Underwater Grasses
Scientists from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) have led surveys of underwater grasses since 1979. In 2017, they recorded 104,843 acres of grasses, exceeding the Chesapeake Bay Program’s (CBP) restoration target and meeting 57% of the restoration goal in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement. The 2017 survey continues a trend of three years of record growth. The team, led...
Read MoreArt & Plastics
At the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts this past July, Penn State University (PSU) professor Denice Wardrop joined the Art of Discovery booth to showcase relationships between humans and plastics. Wardrop is a professor of ecology and geography and helped the booth with the plastics project as a follow up to an exhibit at the Palmer Museum of Art that brought in record crowds. The...
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