4 – Assessing and Changing Carbon-Intensive Practices and Cultures

Penn State has already committed to reducing its carbon footprint by 35%, mostly through retrofitting of buildings and energy production. But to go further we need to change the energy-intensive way we live, teach and do research. This workshop will consider creative ways to change our culture, from transportation and building use to food production: how can we maintain quality education while using less energy?

PARTICIPANTS

LEE AHERN
Assistant Professor, Communications

Ahern’s current studies the impact of strategic messages in the context of environmental and science communications, in particular the psychological effects and cognitive processing implications of different science message factors. He is the current head of the International Environmental Communication Association.

HANNAH BRUKARDT
Administrative Support Assistant, Dean’s Office, Liberal Arts

Hannah Brukardt is a 2012 alumnus of Penn State and a current master’s student in the College of Education’s Higher Education program. As chair of the Sparks Building Green Team, she aims to promote sustainability actions and awareness among the faculty and staff. Hannah is interested in how institutional commitment to and execution of sustainable practices impacts prospective student recruitment in higher education.

JOSEPH P. CUSUMANO
Professor of Engineering Science & Mechanics

 Joseph Cusumano has been a faculty member for 25 years in the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Penn State University Park. His research focuses on the modeling and experimental study of nonlinear and complex systems, both natural and man made. A current emphasis of his work is on the dynamics of human movement: in collaboration with researchers in neuroscience and biomechanics, his group is studying how humans carry out goal-directed movement tasks, such as walking at a steady speed or throwing at a target, while coping with intrinsic physiological noise and motor redundancy. This work is contributing new modeling and data analysis tools that improve our ability to diagnosis and treat neuromotor diseases, and that help assess the performance of advanced prostheses.

KENNETH J. DAVIS
Professor of Meteorology

Ken Davis studies the earth’s carbon and water cycles and specializes in the measurement and modeling of exchanges of trace gases between the earth’s surface and the atmosphere.  His research group is pioneering methods for measuring and monitoring the sources and sinks of the greenhouse gases that drive climate change.  He has served for six years as co-chair of the North American Carbon Program Science Steering Group, the U.S. federal research program aimed at advancing our understanding of the carbon cycle of this continent.  His group has lead experiments targeted at quantifying the carbon sources and sinks of Wisconsin forests, the corn fields of Iowa, the cities of Indianapolis and Davos, Switzerland, and, most recently, the shale gas fields of northeastern Pennsylvania.

BILL SHARP
Director, Transition Centre

Bill is the founder and director of Transition Centre, (www.transitioncentre.org), co-founder of Transition Town State College, member of the Spring Creek Watershed Association and the Spring Creek Watershed Commission, chair of Garden Starters, and Board member of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Transition Hub. Bill received his B.S. in Management and M.A. in Urban Sociology. He also served as manager of a number of projects related to community, economic, and human resource development.

JANET K. SWIM, Ph.D
Professor of Psychology

Janet’s interest lies in understand people’s involvement, or lack there of, in environmental problems and willingness to take action.  She is interested in both basic and applied research that can motivate individuals and organizations to work toward a sustainable and vibrant world.

BRENT YARNAL
Professor of Geography

Brent Yarnal is the Will and Ruby Miller Professor of Physical Geography. His research bridges the physical and social sciences and integrates climate change, natural hazards, and the use of environmental information in decision-making. He is especially interested in what makes individuals, groups, and communities vulnerable to climate extremes. His recent work has focused on planning for present and future hurricane storm surges in Florida, local and regional climate action planning in Pennsylvania, and the role of climate information in water resource management in Florida, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. 

2014 Conference Information