Funded by the university’s Strategic Initiative Seed Grant, the Penn State Stormwater Living Lab utilizes our multi-campus network to create a living laboratory for green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) research, education, and innovation. We endeavor to transform Penn State into a national GSI leader and build community capacity in the long term to implement cost-effective solutions.
Hong Wu
Meghan Hoskins
Daniel Brent
Lauren McPhillips
Shirley Clark
Odette Mina
Margaret Hoffman
Tyler A. Groh
Jennifer R Fetter
Andy Yencha
Jayné Park-Martínez
Michael J. Skvarla
Hong Wu (Director)
Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture
Dr. Wu leads the Stormwater Living Lab. Academically trained in architecture (B.Arch.) and landscape architecture (M.L.A. and Ph.D.), Wu’s research focuses on urban sustainability, watershed stewardship, green infrastructure, landscape performance and social–ecological systems. Wu is an elected co-chair of Penn State’s Water Council, and serves as the co-chair of the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture’s Geo-spatial and Digital Analytics Track.
Daniel Brent
Assistant Professor of Agricultural Economics, Sociology & Education
Dr. Brent’s primary field is environmental economics with a focus on water resources. He uses empirical methods to understand incentives and evaluate policies in environmental markets. Dr. Brent’s research also incorporates elements of behavioral economics.
Shirley Clark
Professor of Environmental Engineering, School of Science, Engineering, and Technology, Penn State Harrisburg
Dr. Clark’s research focuses on the impacts of the built environment on the movement and interception of water in the urban environment, the potential prevention of water pollution, and the treatment of water pollution after it occurs.. Dr. Clark chairs Penn State Harrisburg’s graduate environmental programs, serves on Pennsylvania’s Water Resources Advisory Committee, and have served multiple critical leadership roles at the Environmental and Water Resources Institute (EWRI/ASCE).
Margaret Hoffman
Assistant Professor of Landscape Contracting
Dr. Hoffman is Program Coordinator and Assistant Professor of Landscape Contracting at the Department of Plant Sciences, College of Agricultural Sciences. Hoffman’s areas of expertise include biological filtration, sustainable landscape design, natural swimming pools, and green infrastructure, especially the role of plants in green infrastructure and their tolerance to stressors. She teaches design, construction, estimating, and bidding in the landscape contracting program.
Meghan Hoskins
Director of Operations and Partnerships, Sustainability Institute
Dr. Hoskins connects Penn State Operations staff with faculty, staff, and students to better understand and improve the sustainability of Penn State operations. She develops and facilitates Living Lab opportunities on campus and fosters partnerships with external entities to build mutually beneficial projects and relationships in sustainability. Hoskins also co-chairs the Sustainability Operations Council (SOC) that serves as a clearinghouse for bringing together various operational units to address the University’s environmental footprint through a systemic, holistic, and collaborative effort.
Lauren McPhillips
Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Agricultural and Biological Engineering
Dr. McPhillips’ areas of interest include water quality, stormwater management, green infrastructure, urban ecohydrology, and biogeochemistry. Her group explores hydrology and biogeochemistry in landscapes with substantial human manipulation through a variety of methods, including lab and field approaches, geospatial investigations, data synthesis, and modeling. Recently her group has been strengthening cross-disciplinary partnerships and embarking on some policy and planning analysis related to green infrastructure while exploring the complicated dynamics of urban socio-eco-technological systems.
Odette Mina
Managing Director of EESL
As managing director of Penn State’s Energy and Environmental Sustainability Laboratory (EESL), Dr. Mina has more than 25 years of experience managing full-scale, multi-million dollar laboratory operations. Mina was also responsible for maintaining and overseeing laboratory equipment.
Tyler A. Groh
Assistant Research Professor; Ecosystem Science and Management; Watershed Management Extension Specialist
Dr. Groh’s areas of expertise include watershed management, water quality, nitrogen cycle, biogeochemistry, conservation practices, and soil-water interactions. His research focuses on agricultural conservation practices to reduce nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) and sediment loss from agricultural fields. As an Extension specialist, Groh helps to provide science-based education and resources to producers, landowners, and other stakeholders on both agricultural water and urban stormwater quality issues, in addition to establishing and researching riparian buffers that can act as filters for either agricultural or urban land uses.
Jennifer R Fetter
Extension Educator, Water Resources
Jennifer Fetter’s programs focus on water quality education that helps to protect and restore Pennsylvania’s abundant waterways and groundwater supplies. Programming includes collaborative watershed restoration efforts, agricultural and urban stormwater management education, safe drinking water clinics, and more.
Andy Yencha
Extension Educator, Renewable Natural Resources
Andy Yencha offers consultation and assistance to individuals and groups on surface and groundwater protection with an emphasis on private drinking water supply, testing and protection; and rural pond management.
Jayné Park-Martínez
Assistant Teaching Professor in the Division of Science, Penn State Berks
Dr. Park-Martínez applies expertise in science education to her course offerings in earth science and aquatic ecology. Pre-pandemic, Park-Martínez used service-learning to engage students and build relationships with urban youth in a local boys’ and girls’ club with the goal of fostering in each group a love of nature, commitment to conservation, and enjoyment of age-appropriate scientific learning. During the pandemic, Park-Martínez created a living laboratory on Berks campus by revegetating a turf-detention basin with native plants. Subsequently, she partnered with Penn State Master Watershed Stewards to complete a pilot vegetation survey of the basin. In the future, Park-Martínez plans to use the basin to conduct undergraduate research.
Michael J. Skvarla
Assistant Research Professor of Arthropod Identification, Department of Entomology; Director of Penn State’s Arthropod Identification Laboratory
Dr. Skvarla directs the Arthropod Identification Laboratory at Penn State. His duties include identifying insects and other arthropods submitted by county extension offices and extension agents, as well as the general public. He writes and maintains many of the Department of Entomology’s extension articles and conducts media interviews about pests and insects of concern to the public (e.g., Brood X periodical cicadas, Asian giant hornets). Skvarla also conducts limited original research, usually in collaboration with other labs (e.g., deer keds as pathogen vectors with the Veterinary Entomology Laboratory), and has broad expertise in identifying many different arthropod groups.