Still Life
University Park Airport Emergency Response Exercise
Commencement across Penn State: Spring 2012
Spring commencement 2012 under way
Penn State, Moroccan students problem-solve together
Finals Week Spring Semester 2012
Painting the Lines at Beaver Stadium
Did They Get It Right? - RedTails
Iconic Penn State elm taken down over spring break 2012
We ... are Penn State (December 19, 2011)
Disease stricken matching elm tree slated for removal
Penn State's creamery, from the cow to the cone
Compelling evidence of the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on deep-sea corals will be published online in the Early Edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences during the week beginning March 26. The diverse team of researchers, led by Penn State Professor of Biology Charles Fisher, used a wide range of underwater vehicles, including the research submarine Alvin, to investigate the corals. They also used comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography to determine precisely the source of the petroleum hydrocarbons they found. (more)
It's one thing to study the causes and aftermath of this summer's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It's another thing to travel 1,200 miles from central Pennsylvania and wade through a marsh along the Louisiana coast. Which is exactly why Timothy Bralower and Nancy Tuana, the faculty members teaching an honors course at Penn State this fall on the science and ethics behind the spill, hauled 24 students to New Orleans for a week in November to see for themselves what is happening along the coast six months after the country's worst oil spill. (more)
Researchers on an expedition in the Gulf of Mexico to view first-hand the possible effects of the oil spill on the sea floor are posting daily reports of their explorations on the Web. Charles Fisher, a biological oceanographer from Penn State, is the chief scientist on this research expedition. The research team's daily updates, photos and videos will be added to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's (WHOI) "Dive and Discover" website, http://divediscover.whoi.edu until Dec. 14. To follow the activities during the expedition, click on the "Expedition 13" link at the Dive and Discover website. (more)
On a research ship in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday, Nov. 2, seven miles southwest of the site of the Deep Water Horizon oil spill, a team of scientists discovered a community of corals that includes many recently dead colonies and others that clearly are dying. "We discovered a community of coral that has been impacted fairly recently by something very toxic," said the chief scientist on the cruise, Charles Fisher, who is a professor of biology at Penn State and a member of the research team that selected the site for study. (more)
Chuck Fisher, Penn State professor of biology, is familiar with the Gulf of Mexico, and more specifically with the unique and rarely seen world miles below the surface. Following the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig disaster that resulted in a massive oil spill there, concerns arose about the potential for long term damage to the sea floor and it's inhabitants. Now, Fisher and a team of scientists from across the nation are investigating how the unique life forms that dwell deepest in the Gulf are adapting and surviving. (more)
The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, caused by the April explosion of British Petroleum's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that killed 11 crew members, has poured about 100 million gallons of oil into the water and caused significant damage to ecology and industry. It is already considered the largest offshore spill in U.S. history and may be among the largest spills in the world. It may also be among the worst industrial disasters in modern history. "At this point we're just going to be estimating because it is at a scale and dimension that we just haven't seen before," says environmental historian Brian Black, a professor of history and environmental studies at Penn State Altoona. (more)
Professor Jamison Colburn worked as an enforcement litigator for the EPA prior to joining Penn State Law. Focusing his scholarship and teaching on environmental law and policy, he writes extensively about the protection of wildlife habitat and endangered species. He recently shared his thoughts on the BP Gulf oil spill.
(more)
Penn State Public Broadcasting is offering a television and radio call-in program titled "Inside: The Gulf Oil Spill" with a panel of Penn State experts to discuss the engineering, environmental and economic challenges posed by the April 20 offshore drilling accident in the Gulf of Mexico. The live call-in program airs at 8 p.m. on Thursday, May 6, on WPSU-TV and WPSU-FM. (more)
