Carolyn Mahan, professor of biology and environmental studies, and Laura Palmer, associate professor of biology, took Penn State Altoona environmental studies and biology students on a weekend field trip to the Chesapeake Bay, where they stayed at the Karen Noonan Center and explored the surrounding marsh. Mahan has been taking … Continue reading
Taking standardized college admittance tests—for example, the SAT—can be intimidating and stressful. The pressure is even higher with graduate school tests such as the MCAT (medical school) and the LSAT (law school). The best way to prepare, of course, is to study. Students who feel they need more preparation can … Continue reading
Cutting metal is a major component of many manufacturing methods. To cut steel, in what is known as oxy-fuel cutting, a stream of pure oxygen burns the steel in order to create the required cut, a process first developed in the early 1900s. Of course, the cutting has to be … Continue reading
With spring semester comes an opportunity for college students to demonstrate what they have learned over the course of the school year through showcases, demonstrations, and research fairs. Penn State Altoona is no exception, hosting both an Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities Fair (URCAF) in mid-April and the Spring Student … Continue reading
“The aim or objective of a true conservationist is the stewardship of our natural resources, air, water, and land.” —Maurice K. Goddard Nature doesn’t get any prettier than Pennsylvania any season of the year. In the southeast a portion of the Appalachian Trail is available for hiking; there’s whitewater rafting … Continue reading
A hospital stay usually means seeing a doctor or resident once a day. Nurses, however, are present 24 hours a day; they know better than anyone a patient’s condition, needs, and desires. But at first meeting, beyond the medical chart, patients are still strangers to their nurses, which can be … Continue reading
Migrants are simply people who were born in one place and move to another. The large majority of people in the United States are either migrants themselves or descendants of migrants. The move might be for a job or an educational opportunity. The move might be more life-or-death: a war, … Continue reading
“Going into my master’s I didn’t know I wanted to be a professor,” says Johannes Raabe, assistant professor of kinesiology at Penn State Altoona, when asked about his career direction. Originally from Germany, Raabe came to the University of Wyoming to work on his master’s in kinesiology and health and … Continue reading
Every sports fan has seen an athlete “choke”—in other words, fail to live up to performance expectation during a competition. Someone drops a ball. Or passes the ball to the wrong player. Or blows a putt he has made millions of times before. The internet is full of those tales … Continue reading
Penn State Altoona students have a unique opportunity in the Spring 2019 semester: taking an environmental studies class that starts in Altoona and ends with 12 days of study in the Hawaiian Islands. Carolyn Mahan, professor of biology and environmental studies, and Lisa Emili, associate professor of physical geography and … Continue reading
