UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Over the next week, the Department of Sociology and Criminology in the College of the Liberal Arts at Penn State will host a series of conversations with three legal professionals. The sessions, which are open to all liberal arts students, will be held via Zoom.

Tuesday, April 14, 7 p.m. — Gretchen Swank, Pennsylvania State Police (Zoom link) 

Trooper First Class Gretchen Swank is a Penn State journalism graduate who has enjoyed a nearly 20-year career with the Pennsylvania State Police. She has worked as a criminal investigator specializing in crimes against children, as a peer counselor for fellow troopers, and as a recruiter. Swank is also a certified yoga instructor.

Wednesday, April 15, 7 p.m. — Jillian Jeffers, U.S. Capitol Police (Zoom link)

Lt. Jillian Jeffers joined the United States Capitol Police in 2005. She has served in a variety of mission-driven roles. This includes serving as the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement (CALEA) Accreditation Manager for the Department. In this position, Jeffers coordinated CALEA on-site assessments that led to successful re-accreditation. She also served on the First Responder Unit, Patrol Mobile Response Division and was detailed to the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer to serve as a liaison for congressional support on policy development. Her career accomplishments include serving on the 58th Presidential Inaugural Task Force and working as a Police Officer Recruiter. Jeffers is currently assigned to the Training Services Bureau. In this role, she helps to train and support recruits at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Cheltenham, Maryland.

Thursday, April 16, 7 p.m. — Thomas Dover, FBI Behavioral Assessment Unit (Zoom link)

Thomas Dover is a Crime Analyst in the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) where he provides research and operational support to the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC). Dover is also an instructor for the FBI National Academy where he teaches a graduate course to local, state, federal, tribal and international law enforcement executives on the use of behavioral analysis in decision-support. Dover began his career with the FBI in 2006 in the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (ViCAP) Unit in the NCAVC where he provided analytical assistance in a variety of violent serial crime investigations.

In 2009, Dover joined the Behavioral Science Unit (BSU) to manage the development of computational methods to automate case-linkage analysis. Following the completion of this project, he remained with BSU and provided research, consultation, and training in support of the BSU mission. In 2014, Dover returned to the NCAVC where he provided analytical and research support to BAU-4, which focuses on crimes against adult victims and in 2018, he joined BAU-5 to focus on research, training, and program management where Dover now serves as the principal investigator for the Serial Killer Collection (SKC) Project. Overall, his current research focuses on modeling criminal behavior as a complex adaptive system, case-linkage analysis, offender decision-making, operational applications of computational criminology, identifying and reducing analytical and investigative bias, and developing methods to structure and automate case analysis techniques. He has published on a variety of topics to include the development of a unified theory of offender interaction, murder, sexual assault, insider threat modeling, computational criminology, emerging technologies, and criminal justice education. Dover earned his doctorate in computational social science at the Center for Social Complexity at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia

Questions about the sessions can be directed to Howie Smith, the event coordinator and associate teaching professor of criminology, at hbs103@psu.edu. 

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Nicholas Corona, a senior in the integrated undergraduate/Master of Health Administration program in the Penn State Department of Health Policy and Administration (HPA), received the 2020 Jennifer S. Cwynar Community Achievement Award in April 2020. Corona, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is also pursuing a minor in Rehabilitation and Human Services and Labor and Employment Relations.

The award, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health (PORH), recognizes community achievement by a senior majoring in Health Policy and Administration who has demonstrated service and commitment to a community or an underserved population, preferably, but not exclusively, in a rural are of Pennsylvania.

Corona served as the vice-president of the American College of Healthcare Administrators (ACHCA) Club and was president and founder of the Lift the Mask Club.

Through ACHCA, Corona collaborated with the Quell Foundation to help reduce the stigma of mental health illnesses and coordinated events to promote positive mental health awareness, such as yoga and dog-petting activities. He served on the executive team for Ohana, a special interest Penn State Dance Marathon (THON) organization and was the donor and alumni relations chair. Corona’s position was responsible for $83,000 of the $131,000 in donations that were raised to support pediatric cancer research.

He was nominated by Diane Spokus, associate director of professional development in HPA. In her nomination, Spokus lauded Corona for his commitment to community service, advocacy for under-served and rural populations, and his focus on public health and noted that Corona is a results-driven student who continually seeks professional development opportunities and service to others. She also highlighted his passion, enthusiasm, and strong work ethic.

During the summer of 2019, Corona served as a graduate administrative intern at the University of Chicago Medicine. While there, he developed an exam room refresh cleaning process for the emergency departments, led a Workplace Violence Prevention Committee, streamlined a flowchart process, and created an adult emergency department informational brochure to assist patients in understanding the process of care they would receive. Post-graduation, Corona will serve as an administrative fellow for Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Health Network.

“We are very pleased to present this award to Nick Corona and to honor the legacy of Jennifer Cwynar, who was an exceptional student and intern with our office,” said Lisa Davis, director of PORH and outreach associate professor of HPA. “This is one way in which we can encourage excellence in those who will become leaders in advocating for the health of vulnerable populations. 

The Jennifer S. Cwynar Community Achievement Award was established in memory of Jennifer S. Cwynar, a 2008 graduate of HPA and a 2008 undergraduate intern at PORH. The award is given in recognition of Cwynar’s commitment to community service, advocacy for underserved and rural populations, and focus on public health. The award is issued to a senior majoring in Health Policy and Administration who has advanced those commitments and is intended to encourage and foster personal and professional development.

PORH formed in 1991 as a joint partnership between the federal government, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Penn State. The office is one of 50 state offices of rural health in the nation funded under a program administered by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and is charged with being a source of coordination, technical assistance and networking; partnership development; and assisting in the recruitment and retention of health care providers. 

PORH provides expertise in the areas of rural health, agricultural health and safety, community and economic development, oral health, oral health and other issues impacting the health status of rural residents. PORH is administratively housed in HPA in the College of Health and Human Development at Penn State University Park.

To learn more about the Jennifer S. Cwynar Community Achievement Award and the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health, visit porh.psu.edu. 

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — As part of Penn State’s 2020 spring commencement activities, 24 students will represent the College of the Liberal Arts as student marshals.

In response to the growing coronavirus pandemic, orders from the state government and recommendations from global public health organizations, Penn State will hold its spring 2020 commencement ceremony via livestream on May 9. The virtual ceremony will recognize all Penn State undergraduate students and all graduate students in the Penn State Graduate School.

Student marshals are chosen to represent the college on the basis of outstanding academic achievement and their contributions to liberal arts student life. The college and its units will recognize the marshals in the college's commencement program and plan to honor their accomplishments in various ways in the upcoming year.

Paterno Fellow and Schreyer Scholar Awaly Diallo is the college student marshal. Her faculty marshal is Molly Martin, associate professor of sociology and demography. Diallo is the daughter of Fatimata Ly of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is graduating with bachelor of arts degrees in sociology and African American studies. Diallo was recognized as a Liberal Arts Change Maker for serving as the executive director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Student Committee and for her legal internships at the Northeastern School of Law's Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project and the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. She studied abroad in Curaçao and was recognized as a Rock Ethics Institute Stand Up Award winner. After graduation, Diallo plans to work and volunteer with human rights organizations before attending law school.

Keep reading to learn more about the student marshals selected to represent the College of the Liberal Arts.

AFRICAN STUDIES

Noelia Ortiz-Landazabal is the daughter of Marie-Dominique and Francisco Ortiz-Landazabal of Wayne, Pennsylvania. A Paterno Fellow and Schreyer Scholar, she is graduating with bachelor of arts degrees in African studies and political science and a minor in women’s studies. Ortiz-Landazabal was recognized as a Liberal Arts Change Maker for founding Days for Girls at Penn State, an organization that engages communities to empower and break down barriers for women and girls worldwide through sustainable menstrual care and health education. After graduation, Ortiz-Landazabal will join Ernst & Young in Washington, D.C., as a performance improvement analyst.

ANTHROPOLOGY

Audrey Arner is the daughter of Maria and Shawn Arner of Stafford, Virginia. A Paterno Fellow and Schreyer Scholar, she is graduating with bachelor of science degrees in biological anthropology and biology. She was a member of the Presidential Leadership Academy and the fourth cohort of Millennium Scholars and conducted research in the Perry Anthropological Genomics Lab at Penn State. Arner participated in research experiences at the University of Tübingen and Kansas State University and studied abroad in Tanzania and Costa Rica. After graduation, Arner plans to work as a research technician before pursuing a doctoral degree in anthropology.

ASIAN STUDIES

Aimee Pizarchik is the daughter of Lisa and Rainer Pizarchik of Apollo, Pennsylvania. A Paterno Fellow and Schreyer Scholar, she is graduating with bachelor of arts degrees in Asian studies and Chinese as well as a bachelor of science degree in security and risk analysis. Pizarchik was a Chapel Executive Intern and worked for University Libraries; she was also a resident assistant for the Information Sciences and Technology Special Living Option. Pizarchik completed an intensive language program in Kunming, China, and served as a cultural ambassador for the Penn State-Nanjing Exchange Program. Next year, Pizarchik will attend the University of Chicago to pursue a doctoral degree in history.

CLASSICS AND ANCIENT MEDITERRANEAN STUDIES

Charissa Skoutelas is the daughter of Daphne Skoutelas of Glen Mills, Pennsylvania. A Paterno Fellow and Schreyer Scholar, she is graduating with a bachelor of arts degree in Classics and ancient Mediterranean studies and a bachelor of science degree in global and international studies, with minors in Greek, geography, and religious studies. She was a peer adviser in the Education Abroad Office and studied abroad in Athens, Greece. Skoutelas interned with the Brandywine River Museum of Art and the Museum Collections at the Chester County Historical Society. She was also a member of the Pride of the Lions Pep Band. After graduation, Skoutelas plans to pursue a master’s degree in Classics.

COMMUNICATION ARTS AND SCIENCES

Daniel Zahn is the son of Bruce and Alicia Zahn of Allentown, Pennsylvania. A Paterno Fellow and Schreyer Scholar, he is graduating with bachelor of arts degrees in communication arts and sciences, English, and philosophy, and minors in French, history, rhetoric, Jewish studies, and linguistics. He was recognized as a Liberal Arts Change Maker for co-founding Future Opportunities Reached by Mentorship Consulting. Zahn was a member of the Presidential Leadership Academy and also served as president and captain of the Penn State Mock Trial Association. He interned with the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, completed research in Benin, and studied abroad in London, England; Dublin, Ireland; and Besançon, France. After graduation, Zahn will attend law school or participate in a Fulbright Fellowship.

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE

Siobhan Leonard is the daughter of Sue Doney and Edward Leonard of Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. A Paterno Fellow and Schreyer Scholar, she is graduating with bachelor of arts degrees in comparative literature and global and international studies. She served as a teaching assistant for an environmental science course and studied abroad in Dublin, Ireland, and Nanjing, China. Leonard interned with Hanbidge Law, Pennsylvania State Representative Elizabeth Hanbidge, and the Eastern European Centre for Multiparty Democracy. She is also a member of the Dressage Club. In the fall, Leonard will pursue a master’s degree at New York University.

CRIMINOLOGY

Erin Doolin is the daughter of Bridget and Todd Doolin of Orange County, California. A Paterno Fellow and Schreyer Scholar, she is graduating with bachelor of arts degrees in criminology and political science and a minor in Spanish. She was captain and public relations chair for the Penn State Mock Trial Association and president of Planned Parenthood Generation Action at Penn State. Doolin studied abroad in London and Madrid; she also interned with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C., and the Penn State Justice and Safety Institute. After graduation, Doolin plans to work for the federal government in Washington, D.C.

ECONOMICS

Evan Toomey is the son of Paula and David Toomey of Millersville, Pennsylvania. A Paterno Fellow and Schreyer Scholar, he is graduating with bachelor of science degrees in economics and finance. Toomey was president of the Penn State Economics Association and a teaching assistant for the Department of Economics. He interned with Vanguard and Emerald Asset Management, and he was one of four students selected to represent Penn State at the Rotman International Trading Competition at the University of Toronto. After graduation, Toomey will work as a data service analyst at BlackRock in Wilmington, Delaware.

ENGLISH

Caitlin Conway is the daughter of Karen and James Conway of Clarence Center, New York. A Paterno Fellow and Schreyer Scholar, she is graduating with bachelor of arts degrees in English and political science. Conway was a team captain for the Penn State Mock Trial Association and interned with the Penn State Committee for Early Modern Studies, the Family Justice Center in Buffalo, New York, and the Honorable Amy Martoche of the Buffalo City Court. After graduation, Conway plans to attend law school.

FRENCH AND FRANCOPHONE STUDIES

Loren Baseler is the daughter of Heather and Curtis Hamelly of Grove City, Pennsylvania. A Paterno Fellow and Schreyer Scholar, she is graduating with bachelor of arts degrees in French and francophone studies and English. Baseler was the editor-in-chief of the literary magazine ABSENCE at Penn State Greater Allegheny. She interned with the American Shakespeare Center and studied abroad in Montpellier, France, taking classes at the Université Paul Valéry. After graduation, Baseler hopes to serve as an English teaching assistant and cultural ambassador through the French government’s Teaching Assistant Program in France.

GERMANIC AND SLAVIC LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES

Maria Badanova is the daughter of Olga Badanova and Dmitry Zhmurkin of Boise, Idaho. A Paterno Fellow and Schreyer Scholar, she is graduating with bachelor of arts degrees in Russian and psychology. Badanova served as secretary and vice president of the Russian Club and co-authored a book of translated prose and poetry with Dr. Michael Naydan. She was a research assistant in the Penn State Language and Aging Lab and completed research in Krakow, Poland, and Tübingen, Germany. In the fall, Badanova will pursue a doctoral degree at the Max Planck School of Cognition in Berlin, Germany. 

GLOBAL AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

Erin Baumgartner is the daughter of Lisa and Hans Baumgartner of State College, Pennsylvania. A Paterno Fellow and Schreyer Scholar, she is graduating with bachelor of arts degrees in global and international studies and international politics, with minors in Spanish and German. Baumgartner had the opportunity to study abroad in both Spain and Chile and participated in the Penn State UNESCO Youth as Researchers Program. She also participated in Outdoor School through Shaver's Creek Environmental Center. After graduation, Baumgartner hopes to pursue opportunities related to social justice and nonprofit work in the D.C. area.

HISTORY

Aileen McKinstry is the daughter of Susan Troiler-McKinstry and Herb McKinstry of State College, Pennsylvania. A Paterno Fellow and Schreyer Scholar, she is graduating with bachelor of arts degrees in history and English and a minor in music performance. McKinstry was a member of the Penn State Philharmonic and Concert Choir. She studied abroad in London and worked as a writing tutor at the Penn State Learning Center. In the fall, McKinstry will pursue her master’s degree in American history.

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS

Panini Pandya is the daughter of Darshini and Chaitanya Pandya of Allentown, Pennsylvania. A Paterno Fellow and Schreyer Scholar, she is graduating with bachelor of arts degrees in international politics, Spanish, and history and a minor in geography. Pandya was a coder for the McCourtney Institute for Democracy, as well as the 2019 Donor and Alumni Relations Chair for Springfield Benefiting THON. After serving on the executive board of State of State for three years, she became its executive director for 2020. After graduation, Pandya will complete a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Fellowship in Colombia.

LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS

Cory Steinle is the son of Leanne and Brett Steinle of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. A Paterno Fellow and Schreyer Scholar, he is graduating with bachelor of science degrees in labor and employment relations and communication arts and sciences, a master of science degree in human resources and employee relations, and minors in business and the liberal arts and English. In addition to being a member of the Presidential Leadership Academy, Steinle was a graduate teaching fellow and a research assistant. He traveled to six different countries throughout his college experience. After graduation, Steinle will join Deloitte as a human capital analyst in Rosslyn, Virginia.

PHILOSOPHY

David Witmer is the son of Mark and Cindy Witmer of Ephrata, Pennsylvania. He is graduating with a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy and minors in Jewish studies, English, and religious studies. Prior to Penn State, Witmer was an electronics maintenance technician with the U.S. Marine Corps. As a student, he worked for the Penn State Office of Veterans Programs. He was a mentor for Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Novel Club at Penn State. Witmer participated in the Penn State Choir and Campus Choir and volunteered with Out in the Cold Homeless Ministry and the Altoona VA Medical Center. After graduation, Witmer will work for Target as an executive team leader.

POLITICAL SCIENCE

Andrew Bernstein is the son of Karen and Mark Bernstein of Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. A Paterno Fellow and Schreyer Scholar, he is graduating with bachelor of arts degrees in political science and Spanish and a minor in economics. Bernstein served as an executive board member for Penn State Alternative Breaks and studied abroad in Santiago, Chile. He also interned at the Centre County Public Defender’s Office, focusing on child welfare law. After graduation, Bernstein will attend law school seeking a career in the public interest.

PSYCHOLOGY

Lena Becker is the daughter of Regina and Michael Becker of Elysburg, Pennsylvania. A Paterno Fellow and Schreyer Scholar, she is graduating with a bachelor of science degree in psychology and a bachelor of arts degree in Spanish. Becker was a lab manager and clinical interviewer for the Personality, Psychopathology, and Psychotherapy Lab and studied abroad in Puebla, Mexico. She interned with the Yale-New Haven Hospital Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology. In addition, she volunteered with Centre County PAWS. After graduation, Becker will be a researcher and diagnostician at Brown University’s Medical School.

ROTC

August Pasquale is the son of August and Lori Pasquale of Severna Park, Maryland. He is graduating with a bachelor of arts degree in political science and a bachelor of science degree in finance. Pasquale studied abroad in Italy and England; he also interned with U.S. Representative Andy Harris and with Northrop Grumman, an aerospace and defense company. Pasquale was a flight commander in the Air Force ROTC at Penn State and a reporter for The Daily Collegian. After graduation, Pasquale will serve as an acquisitions officer in the United States Air Force.

SOCIOLOGY

Leah DeLancey is the daughter of Douglas and Toni DeLancey of Arlington, Virginia. She is graduating with bachelor of arts degrees in sociology and political science. DeLancey was a teaching assistant and undergraduate research assistant in the college. She also was a Panhellenic recruitment counselor and the policy and standards board chair for Pi Beta Phi. DeLancey interned with the Student Engagement Network, the U.S. House of Representatives, and Huntington Ingalls Industries. After graduation, DeLancey plans to work in politics in Washington, D.C., before pursuing a master’s degree in national defense.

SPANISH, ITALIAN, AND PORTUGUESE

Christopher Abraham is the son of Lori and Todd Abraham of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A Paterno Fellow and Schreyer Scholar, he is graduating with bachelor of arts degrees in Spanish and English. Abraham was the president of the Spanish Immersion Club and earned his Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages certificate from Penn State while studying abroad in Ecuador. He volunteered with Young Life. After graduation, Abraham will serve as a literacy coordinator in the Dominican Republic through the Peace Corps.

WOMEN’S, GENDER, AND SEXUALITY STUDIES

Clara Miller is the daughter of Julie and Michael Miller of Tully, New York. She is graduating with a bachelor of science degree in women’s studies and a minor in plant pathology. She was the service chair for Triota and the president of the Blooms and Shrooms Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology organization. Miller was also an undergraduate researcher for the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences and the College of Agricultural Sciences. After graduation, Miller will work in disability support services while applying to graduate school.

WORLD CAMPUS

Matt Solovey is the husband of Jade Kelly Solovey and the father of Jayden Solovey and Arianna Miletta. He is graduating with a bachelor of science degree in organizational leadership. Solovey is an experienced communications professional, writer, and editor in healthcare, academia, and print journalism. He is currently the director of communication for the Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute. Through World Campus, Solovey was a student ambassador and smart track student mentor. He also participated in a summer leadership conference on behalf of World Campus.

ABINGTON, Pa. — Penn State Abington faculty are providing relevant and creative content remotely to their students while supporting them through the challenges presented by the coronavirus pandemic. 

“It is difficult to express how heartened I am by the spirit of our faculty at this trying time. They have risen to the pedagogical challenge with a masterful display of creativity and innovation,” said Friederike Baer, division head for Arts and Humanities and associate professor of history at Abington. “What may be most inspiring of all is the deep-seated concern for our students that faculty efforts expose.”

Pierce Salguero, associate professor of Asian history and religious studies, said practical lessons from history are valuable in helping students manage this complex situation. 

“Learning history can help us to put the pandemic into context. It can help us understand what’s happening,” he said. “History can often help reframe what is going on and can be helpful to people.”

Salguero is teaching HIST 114N Historical Perspectives on Healthcare Innovations this semester. He rewrote his plan for the last four-week unit of the course to focus on the history of quarantine, social distancing and disease control.

“The reason for switching the syllabus was to show students how relevant the tools from history are to understanding what is happening right now— they are supercritical at this moment,” he said.

“The pandemic has been very applicable [to the course] from the beginning of the semester," he continued. "It was planned out beforehand to discuss Chinese medicine because the coronavirus was emerging in China and news items surfaced about how China’s effort to control the virus involved using traditional Chinese medicines.”

“What may be most inspiring of all is the deep-seated concern for our students that faculty efforts expose.” 

— Friederike Baer, Division Head for Arts and Humanities

Salguero’s students are reading about the origins of quarantines during the Black Death in the 14th century and other outbreaks and pandemics including yellow fever in Philadelphia in the 18th century, the bubonic plague in Asia in the early 20th century, HIV, and finishing with the current situation.

“The students are writing papers on current news and protocols that are being put into place and putting those into context based on the readings for the semester,” he said.

Students, Salguero said, are interested in using this opportunity to understand the pandemic through a historical lens. 

“This is a completely unprecedented experience that no one has any personal memory of or context for dealing with. There is so much material in historical records about how people acted and thought. People did the exact same things we are doing now. It underscores the relevance of history. It’s not just an academic topic.”

H. John Thompson, assistant teaching professor of art, is designing projects for his students that exercise their creative muscles while using resources available wherever they are quarantining during the pandemic. But concern for his students is his priority. 

“My overarching thought is that I want to first identify that we are in a time of crisis and people’s lives and schedules are different from where we started in January,” he said. “I know many of my students work in grocery stores, and I can only imagine the stress they’re feeling in those environments.”

One of the first assignments Thompson gave since the transition to remote learning was tasking the students to create TikTok videos at home, included above.

For upcoming projects, Thompson has looked to films about artists that the students can stream through Penn State. They will complete the assignments by creating works and submitting either photos or videos of them in CANVAS, a web-based learning management system. 

Among Thompson’s upcoming assignments:

• Emulating the work of artist Andy Goldsworthy, known for his work in nature and with natural materials, after watching a film about him.
• Viewing the film "Wasteland" about artist Vik Muniz, who worked with people to recreate famous artworks using recyclable materials from one of the world’s largest landfills. In this project, students will use items they find around the house to create imagery. 
• A third project will emulate the work of Fischli and Weiss'“Der Lauf Der Dinge,” translated as "The Way Things Go,” which is essentially a Rube Goldberg device. 

“Essentially, all students really need is a smartphone to document and submit their work,” Thompson said.

The “We Are” spirit is perhaps more important than ever before, and Penn Staters everywhere are coming together in new and amazing ways. During these challenging times, our community is continuing to realize Penn State’s commitment to excellence through acts of collaboration, thoughtfulness and kindness. As President Eric Barron has written on Digging Deeper, this truly is a “We Are” moment — and we want to hear your “We Are” stories.

Visit news.psu.edu/WeAre to share how you or other Penn Staters are supporting each other to overcome the collective challenges presented by novel coronavirus. We are!

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — As part of Penn State’s 2020 spring commencement activities, Awaly Diallo will represent the College of the Liberal Arts as college marshal.

In response to the growing coronavirus pandemic, orders from the state government and recommendations from global public health organizations, Penn State will hold its spring 2020 commencement ceremony via livestream on May 9. The virtual ceremony will recognize all Penn State undergraduate students and all graduate students in the Penn State Graduate School.

Diallo, a Paterno Fellow and Schreyer Scholar, will graduate with bachelor of arts degrees in sociology and African American studies. Her faculty marshal is Molly Martin, associate professor of sociology and demography.

During her time at Penn State, Diallo has made a substantial impact. As the executive director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Student Committee, she was passionate about inspiring social justice across the University Park campus. Awaly noted the importance of having a strong support network. She said, “With everything that I do in my life, I am surrounded by encouraging and empowering black women and girls. From my family, to my sorority sisters, to my professors, to the planning committee, I am surrounded by caring, encouraging and empowering black women.”

Diallo’s passion for social justice doesn’t end there. Early in her Penn State career, she served as the student chair for the Black Women’s Initiative, where she helped organize discussions and worked towards retention of Black female students. She was also vice president of Penn State’s Writers Organized to Represent Diverse Stories (W.O.R.D.S) student organization. The group’s mission is to create a safe place for members to share their stories with identity politics and spread self love.

Continuing with the theme of social justice, Diallo was a legal intern at the Northeastern School of Law's Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project (CCRJ) and the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. The CRRJ investigates cold cases involving racially motivated homicides that occurred between 1930 and 1970. The project works to uncover what happened to the victims, tell their stories, and try to provide closure to the affected families and communities through restorative justice.

“Their experiences were not only full of determination to bring justice to the families of the victims but to utilize the research in the CRRJ for contemporary issues," said Diallo. "The parallels captivated my interest for my current research but also for my future goals.”

Because of her role as executive director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Student Committee, as well as her internships, Diallo was recognized as a Liberal Arts Change Maker. As a Change Maker, her goal is to “inspire students to seek justice by any means necessary and to change the world.” 

Diallo was also recognized as a Rock Ethics Institute Stand Up Award winner, which is awarded to students who demonstrate ethical leadership by standing up for a cause, idea, or belief. Unsurprisingly, Diallo was recognized for standing up for social justice and reconciliation.

Topping off Diallo’s impressive list of activities is her study abroad experience in Curaçao, where she had the unique opportunity to explore the similarities and differences between structures of race, crime, and justice in Curaçao and the United States. She also learned about the Atlantic slave trade and European influences of Curaçao’s socio-political symptoms.

Reflecting on her time as a Penn State student, Diallo attributes her confidence in her future to her liberal arts education. “My liberal arts education gave me a keen understanding of how to see society through a world perspective. I have the necessary tools to tackle social problems and make an impact on people all over the world,” she said.

After graduation, Diallo plans to work and volunteer with various human rights organizations before attending law school to become a civil rights lawyer. One of her professional goals is to “utilize legal research to produce equitable public policy for marginalized groups of people.”

To first-year Liberal Arts students, Diallo offered the following advice. “Immerse yourself in everything the College of the Liberal Arts has to offer because there are so many opportunities to explore your purpose and create your own journey. It is okay to need help or guidance, and there are a multitude of resources that can lead you in the right path.”

This is the second in a series of stories on the 24 student marshals representing the College of the Liberal Arts during the spring 2020 commencement activities.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Nicholas Corona, a senior in the integrated undergraduate/Master of Health Administration program in the Penn State Department of Health Policy and Administration (HPA), received the 2020 Jennifer S. Cwynar Community Achievement Award in April 2020. Corona, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is also pursuing a minor in Rehabilitation and Human Services and Labor and Employment Relations.

The award, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health (PORH), recognizes community achievement by a senior majoring in Health Policy and Administration who has demonstrated service and commitment to a community or an underserved population, preferably, but not exclusively, in a rural are of Pennsylvania.

Corona served as the vice-president of the American College of Healthcare Administrators (ACHCA) Club and was president and founder of the Lift the Mask Club.

Through ACHCA, Corona collaborated with the Quell Foundation to help reduce the stigma of mental health illnesses and coordinated events to promote positive mental health awareness, such as yoga and dog-petting activities. He served on the executive team for Ohana, a special interest Penn State Dance Marathon (THON) organization and was the donor and alumni relations chair. Corona’s position was responsible for $83,000 of the $131,000 in donations that were raised to support pediatric cancer research.

He was nominated by Diane Spokus, associate director of professional development in HPA. In her nomination, Spokus lauded Corona for his commitment to community service, advocacy for under-served and rural populations, and his focus on public health and noted that Corona is a results-driven student who continually seeks professional development opportunities and service to others. She also highlighted his passion, enthusiasm, and strong work ethic.

During the summer of 2019, Corona served as a graduate administrative intern at the University of Chicago Medicine. While there, he developed an exam room refresh cleaning process for the emergency departments, led a Workplace Violence Prevention Committee, streamlined a flowchart process, and created an adult emergency department informational brochure to assist patients in understanding the process of care they would receive. Post-graduation, Corona will serve as an administrative fellow for Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Health Network.

“We are very pleased to present this award to Nick Corona and to honor the legacy of Jennifer Cwynar, who was an exceptional student and intern with our office,” said Lisa Davis, director of PORH and outreach associate professor of HPA. “This is one way in which we can encourage excellence in those who will become leaders in advocating for the health of vulnerable populations. 

The Jennifer S. Cwynar Community Achievement Award was established in memory of Jennifer S. Cwynar, a 2008 graduate of HPA and a 2008 undergraduate intern at PORH. The award is given in recognition of Cwynar’s commitment to community service, advocacy for underserved and rural populations, and focus on public health. The award is issued to a senior majoring in Health Policy and Administration who has advanced those commitments and is intended to encourage and foster personal and professional development.

PORH formed in 1991 as a joint partnership between the federal government, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Penn State. The office is one of 50 state offices of rural health in the nation funded under a program administered by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and is charged with being a source of coordination, technical assistance and networking; partnership development; and assisting in the recruitment and retention of health care providers. 

PORH provides expertise in the areas of rural health, agricultural health and safety, community and economic development, oral health, oral health and other issues impacting the health status of rural residents. PORH is administratively housed in HPA in the College of Health and Human Development at Penn State University Park.

To learn more about the Jennifer S. Cwynar Community Achievement Award and the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health, visit porh.psu.edu. 

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Energy and Environmental Sustainability Laboratories (EESL) has announced a new webinar series that will feature its Radiocarbon Laboratory and experts in radiocarbon dating. The series, titled "Radiocarbon Universe," will occur every Tuesday from 11 a.m. to noon, starting April 21. Each webinar is scheduled for 45 minutes of presentation and 15 minutes for questions and discussion. 

The first webinar, "Fundamentals of Radiocarbon," will be presented by Brendan Culleton, a scientist in Penn State’s Radiocarbon Lab. It is scheduled for 11 a.m. Tuesday, April 21.

The webinars are free and open to the public. Attendees must register in order to receive the webinar’s URL. All webinars will be recorded and available for future viewing.

“The 'Radiocarbon Universe' webinar series will offer researchers and the scientific community learning and educational opportunities that align with EESL’s mission,” said Odette Mina, managing director, “which is to advance interdisciplinary scholarship by providing researchers access to cutting-edge instrumentation and subject matter expertise that fuels innovation in energy and environmental sciences.”

The purpose of the webinar series is to share the diverse topics and applications related to radiocarbon dating. It will involve researchers at Penn State, and will be hosted by Culleton. Additionally, radiocarbon experts from other institutions who have expertise in specific applications are planned to make presentations in the series.

“This webinar series will cover the fundamentals of radiocarbon research — sample preparation, measurement and interpretation — and expand into case studies in diverse fields, ranging from the historical sciences to forensics, astrophysics, ancient DNA and more,” said Culleton. “The series is designed to lay the conceptual foundations for a lay audience to understand the research and deliver engaging talks to inspire and entertain.”

Accelerator mass spectrometer radiocarbon measurements provide direct chronological data critical to developing absolute timelines for the historical sciences, including archaeology, art history, paleontology, geomorphology and paleoecology.

“By building and integrating parallel records of social, environmental and ecological change over the last 50,000 years, we discern causal relationships and dynamic feedbacks in human-environment interactions that inform our present and future,” Culleton said.

The Radiocarbon Laboratory is a part of the Energy and Environmental Sustainability Laboratories, which are shared multi-user instrumentation facilities at Penn State that tie together world-class instrumentation and expertise in a broad array of analytical techniques covering materials in all phases.

EESL is a part of the Institutes of Energy and the Environment, a Penn State research unit that works to build teams of experts from different disciplines to see how new ways of thinking can solve some of the world’s most difficult energy and environmental challenges.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Two researchers have become cofunded faculty members in the Institutes of Energy and the Environment (IEE): Hee Jeung Oh, an assistant professor in the College of Engineering, and Hilal Ezgi Toraman, an assistant professor in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences with a joint appointment in the College of Engineering.

Hee Jeung Oh

Oh’s work addresses pressing challenges in the water-energy nexus and in health. Her research focuses on designing innovative membranes for energy-efficient separations, energy storage and biomedical devices.

“With the world’s population growing rapidly, the need for clean water and energy is greater than ever, and with rising life expectancy, the prevalence of age-related diseases is increasing rapidly,” Oh said. “It may sound like a broad range of applications, but when looking at the fundamental core of my research group, we focus on polymer membranes for molecule separation and study how small molecules such as water, ions and gases selectively move across the polymer membranes.”

According to Oh, polymer membranes play central roles in technologies related to clean water, including reverse osmosis desalination and forward osmosis, as well as in energy storage such as polymer electrolytes in batteries and fuel cells, electrodialysis and artificial photosynthesis. It also includes biomedical engineering in items such as sensors, hemodialysis and both drug release and capture.

“Our research program includes designing and synthesizing new polymers, developing processing methods for new structures and evaluating their transport and structural properties,” Oh said. “These four areas (design, synthesis, processing and characterization) are highly complementary to each other and are necessary to develop our molecular-level understanding of transport in polymer membranes and eventually the design principles of advanced membranes.”

Oh said her research group’s work is highly interdisciplinary.

“We have been working with surgeons at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine for last several years to develop polymer membranes for removing unwanted chemotherapy drugs from the body. We also have worked with engineers in a 3D printing company called Carbon Inc. to develop 3D membranes for biomedical devices,” Oh said. “The environment at Penn State is perfectly suited for our research program and we are excited to be a part of IEE.”

Before coming to Penn State, Oh completed her postdoctoral training in chemical and biomolecular engineering at University of California, Berkeley. She earned her doctorate and master’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and her bachelor’s degree in chemical and biomolecular engineering from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.

Hilal Ezgi Toraman

Toraman’s research interests include chemical reaction engineering with a focus on developing new processes, materials and technologies for efficient and sustainable use of shale gas, biogas, biomass and plastic waste.

Toraman noted that her research is in line with the Stewarding Our Planet’s Resources thematic area of Penn State’s strategic plan.

“I am planning to work on methane, which is the main constituent of shale gas and biogas,” she said. “Methane, which is currently underutilized, has the potential to be an essential source of energy and chemicals in the near future.”

Plastic is another aspect of Toraman’s research, which she pointed out is used widely yet little thought has been given to how plastic impacts waste management systems.

“The overwhelming majority of global plastic waste, roughly 80%, is being landfilled or contaminating the environment, and this has serious climate, health, social and economic implications,” Toraman said. “Studies show that if we continue with our current practices, by 2050 the ocean will hold more plastic than fish by weight. In short, plastic waste is an emerging feedstock that calls for our attention. The technologies that I will develop will allow the chemical recycling of plastic wastes into useful products such as fuels and chemicals.”

Toraman was also recently named the Virginia S. and Philip L. Walker Jr. Faculty Fellow in Materials Science and Engineering and Fuel Science Program at Penn State.

Prior to arriving at Penn State, Toraman was a postdoctoral researcher with the Delaware Energy Institute at the University of Delaware. She earned her doctorate in chemical engineering from Ghent University, Belgium. Toraman received her master’s and bachelor’s degrees in chemical engineering, both from Middle East Technical University, Turkey.

The Institutes of Energy and the Environment is a Penn State research unit that works to build teams of experts from different disciplines to see how new ways of thinking can solve some of the world’s most difficult energy and environmental challenges.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a shutdown of most libraries nationwide, making their physical collections and resources largely inaccessible. In response, many libraries, including Penn State University Libraries, have increased their efforts to make their digital collections as visible and accessible as possible. These temporary resources are in addition to digital licenses the Libraries continues to purchase and add into its online catalog to support remote teaching and learning.

HathiTrust Emergency Temporary Access Service 

Penn State faculty, staff, and students now have reading access to more than 48% of the Libraries’ print collections through the HathiTrust Emergency Temporary Access Service (ETAS). Once logged in at www.hathitrust.org, Penn State users can access the entire public domain corpus and temporarily have limited access to in-copyright and copyright-undetermined volumes held by the Libraries. To get started, visit: https://www.hathitrust.org/ETAS-User-Information

National Emergency Library (Internet Archive)

Penn State and other libraries supported the Internet Archive’s application of the Fair Use doctrine to eliminate waitlists for the books it lends to users through the latter of June 30, or the end of the COVID-19 national emergency. The collection includes more than 1.4 million e-books from the 1920s through the 1990s that represent the interests of both academic and public library patrons. Anyone can set up an account and borrow for free for 14 days. For more information, visit: http://blog.archive.org/2020/03/24/announcing-a-national-emergency-library-to-provide-digitized-books-to-students-and-the-public/

Open Access (OA) Collections

The Libraries’ Cataloging and Metadata Services department has been working assiduously to increase the visibility and discoverability of Open Access (OA), or free-to-read, collections via the Libraries website. More than 15,000 records for OA content have been loaded over the past few months in anticipation of the need for free, open access to scholarly materials, said Jeff Edmunds, digital access coordinator. “Penn State has been on the cutting edge of making library assets as available as possible, especially now that our physical collections are largely inaccessible,” he added. 

Temporary and expanded access to vendor and publisher resources

In response to the increased need for electronic content to support teaching and research, the Libraries is taking advantage of select offers from vendors and publishers for free temporary access to resources. Resources that have been added to library collections on a temporary basis include scholarly and research publications and journal content, textbooks, e-books, video, audio, PDFs and tools for teaching and curriculum planning in a wide range of disciplines.

HAZLETON, Pa. – Hazleton native Megan Bobish has joined the Penn State Hazleton Athletics Department as the newest member of its team.

Bobish will be tasked with caring for student-athletes as an athletic trainer. Bobish, who grew up in Hazleton, began her new role on campus on April 6.

“We are pleased to welcome Megan to our campus and look forward to her working with our athletes,” Chancellor Gary M. Lawler said. “She brings a strong background in physical therapy and training and will be a great asset to our students.”

Bobish said sports have played an important role in her life ever since her early days playing youth soccer, and she is very excited to begin her career in the field of athletics.

“I’ve learned so many great lessons from being an athlete and working with them,” Bobish said. “From gaining discipline and respect for others to learning from our failures and picking ourselves back up. I hope to build on these and help impart them on our students as the new athletic trainer.” 

Bobish recently earned her bachelor of science degree in athletic training at Temple University in Philadelphia.

While at Temple, Bobish earned high marks and gained valuable experience evaluating and treating injuries with the Owls' women’s lacrosse team. She also gained knowledge with stops at the University of Pennsylvania, Delaware Valley University and William Penn Charter School.

After graduating from Temple, Bobish sought a return to the Hazleton area to make an impact on her local community. She began that effort working as a physical therapy aide at Pro Rehabilitation Services in Hazleton, where she assisted with treatment and rehabilitation programs for patients while maintaining the day-to-day setup of the clinic.

“The well-being of our student-athletes is our highest priority and Megan will be a great asset in maintaining that focus, by providing excellent preventative and rehabilitation services for the student-athletes on campus,” said Director of Athletics Patrice Lombard. “She is very passionate about her work, as well as our community, and we’re thrilled to welcome her to our Athletics staff.”

Bobish is eager to get started in her new position and is looking forward to a return to normalcy in the sporting world.

As the athletic trainer, Bobish will be responsible for working with Hazleton’s eight intercollegiate athletic programs and creating a safe and positive playing environment for more than 100 student-athletes at the campus.

“It’s very important to me to engage the student-athletes to be proactive in the prevention of and rehabilitation from injury,” Bobish said. “I always keep in mind that behind the athlete or the injury is a person, and if I can be there for them in more ways than one, I know we’ll be on our way to achieving our goals."

WYOMISSING, Pa. — Since March 16, Alanna Billy of East Earl, Pennsylvania, has started most days sitting at her laptop, taking Penn State Berks courses remotely. The first-year kinesiology major completes all her coursework in the morning and has the afternoon free for studying or spending time with friends and family.

“So far I have made an easy transition into remote learning,” states Billy. “All my professors have been so encouraging: They understand that we all have a lot of worries on our plates right now. I think that Penn State Berks faculty members have strategically taken measures throughout this pandemic and are trying to make things as easy for students as possible.”

When Penn State Berks transitioned to remote teaching on March 16 — along with all the other Penn State campuses — in response to the global coronavirus pandemic, many students and some faculty members had concerns about remote course delivery and losing the personal connections of the classroom. Despite some initial trepidation, faculty members who were novices to remote teaching were up and running with their course delivery within a matter of days of the announcement, thanks to some assistance from fellow professors and staff.

Lending a helping hand

One professor who offered personal assistance to fellow faculty members is Dawn Pfeifer Reitz, lecturer in communication arts and sciences. She explained that she had been thinking about what she needed to do to prepare for remote delivery of her courses before the announcement was made and she was in a good place to manage the transition.

Pfeifer Reitz knew that some of her faculty colleagues, as well as students, were not as comfortable with remote teaching and learning, so she created two blogs with many resources that both professors and students need to succeed. Pfeifer Reitz’s personal blog began with one post to assist faculty in giving online lectures, and morphed into a valuable resource for both faculty and students, with ideas for remote testing, and information to help students become better learners and professors to become better teachers.

After the first week of remote learning, in response to students’ questions and concerns, she created the Penn State Berks Remote Learning blog in collaboration with Sonia Delaquito, coordinator of the Learning Center. It contains articles about time management, motivation, setting boundaries and much more. 

Luis Aponte, of Hamburg, Pennsylvania, a first-year student majoring in electrical engineering, was one of many students who had some concerns about remote learning.

“This experience is unlike any other and it hasn't been the easiest for students, parents or professors. My remote learning experience has been quite a change and I've had to adapt but it has been good," he said. "Professors have been very understanding: They understand that these are tough, stressful times for all of us and that we need time to take care of ourselves mentally and emotionally."

He added, “I like using Zoom for classes; an online Zoom class allows me to ask questions in the moment rather than through email.”

Pfeifer Reitz reached out to the college’s academic division heads and offered to assist any faculty members who were struggling with remote teaching. Several accepted her offer.

Carl Mann, an adjunct professor who teaches public speaking, recounted, “Dawn figuratively held my hand through the transition. I’m old school — nothing is electronic in my classroom. Dawn pointed me to a lot of resources on campus — She connected me with Mary Ann Mengel, instructional multimedia designer, who gave me a personal tutoring session on Zoom, and Red [Hongyan Yuan], instructional designer in the Center for Learning and Teaching, who helped me insert a test in Blackboard. The Information Technology department even lent me a laptop.”

“I still prefer teaching in the classroom but I’m functioning,” Mann said, laughing.

Finally, Pfeifer Reitz worked with the Berks Teaching and Learning with Technology group, a faculty learning community that is sponsored by Penn State Teaching and Learning with Technology. The Berks group meets and discusses topics such as innovative instruction technology and how to manage online tests. In addition, faculty members have an opportunity to share success stories with one another.

The college also has two incredible resources that made the transition easier for faculty and students: The Center for Learning and Teaching Technology and the Information Technology department. The center held multiple training sessions for faculty before the transition and these workshops continue. The Information Technology department has ensured that all faculty and students have the resources that they needed to complete the semester.

“The levels of creativity, cooperation, and resilience that I have witnessed over the past month on behalf of our students, faculty and staff have been truly remarkable and attest to the quality of people who serve Penn State Berks and Penn State University.”

— Penn State Berks Chancellor R. Keith Hillkirk

Penn State Berks Chancellor R. Keith Hillkirk expressed pride at the spirit of collaboration on campus. “The levels of creativity, cooperation,and resilience that I have witnessed over the past month on behalf of our students, faculty and staff have been truly remarkable and attest to the quality of people who serve Penn State Berks and the University," he said.

Student success

When Penn State extended remote teaching through the end of the spring semester due to growing federal and state regulations concerning the coronavirus pandemic, most students reported that they were confident in remote learning.

There are many student success stories. Patrick Scanlon, Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, a senior with a dual major in information sciences and technology and security and risk analysis, explained, “Most of our IST assignments are group projects so we've been using various applications for team communication. We use apps like Zoom, Discord, and Microsoft Teams. The professors have been very helpful and accommodating to our needs. Overall [remote learning has] been a positive experience."

Chandler Alenovitz, of New Holland, Pennsylvania, a first-year student majoring in business management and marketing, summarized his experience.

“The transition into remote learning has been nothing but positive for me so far. All my professors are working with me to help me succeed the best way I can. Honestly, I thought it was going to be a rough experience, but everything worked out well," said Alenovitz.

In addition to faculty teaching and remote learning being up to speed, academic support is available to students through both the Writing Center and the Learning Center. Both offer online tutoring by appointment. Students can schedule online appointments with their academic advisers via Zoom. In fact, all the college’s offices and centers are available online and staff members can be contacted via phone or email. For a complete listing of resources for students, visit https://berks.psu.edu/covid-19.

Designing the Future

Marietta Scanlon is one of many faculty members who has converted her dining room into an online classroom, and she hasn’t missed a beat. The assistant teaching professor of engineering and program chair for electro-mechanical engineering technology talked about the engineering design course that she is teaching this semester.

“For my EDSGN 100 class, prior to switching to remote learning, Professor Ed Sauer and I were doing a Learning Factory project with the students for Boeing. Needless to say, that project could not continue," said Scanlon. "We switched gears and the students spent two weeks working through a virtual design project for Boeing instead. The teams presented their designs to a Boeing engineer via Zoom earlier this week.”

For their next project, Scanlon and Sauer’s students will "Hack the Pandemic."

“In class, we have talked about things that have been affected by the pandemic. Their assignment is to individually brainstorm possible problems and solutions," said Scanlon. "Then, in teams, they will continue to brainstorm, as well as design and create a digital prototype of their solutions. We've taken advantage of the Zoom breakout rooms to have team meetings and screen sharing so the students can present their work to the class.”  

Many faculty members who use special software in their courses, such as engineering, have worked with the Information Technology Department to make that software available to students remotely. In addition, faculty deliver all courses synchronously, meaning they were held on the same date and time originally scheduled to avoid potential issues for students such as loss of financial aid and time conflicts. 

When asked what her hopes were for future remote course delivery, Pfeifer Reitz stated, “I hope this experience opens up awareness to online pedagogy.

“More importantly, it gives us an opportunity to teach students to be resilient and to roll with the punches," she added.

A valuable life lesson indeed.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Energy and Environmental Sustainability Laboratories (EESL) has announced a new webinar series that will feature its Radiocarbon Laboratory and experts in radiocarbon dating. The series, titled "Radiocarbon Universe," will occur every Tuesday from 11 a.m. to noon, starting April 21. Each webinar is scheduled for 45 minutes of presentation and 15 minutes for questions and discussion. 

The first webinar, "Fundamentals of Radiocarbon," will be presented by Brendan Culleton, a scientist in Penn State’s Radiocarbon Lab. It is scheduled for 11 a.m. Tuesday, April 21.

The webinars are free and open to the public. Attendees must register in order to receive the webinar’s URL. All webinars will be recorded and available for future viewing.

“The 'Radiocarbon Universe' webinar series will offer researchers and the scientific community learning and educational opportunities that align with EESL’s mission,” said Odette Mina, managing director, “which is to advance interdisciplinary scholarship by providing researchers access to cutting-edge instrumentation and subject matter expertise that fuels innovation in energy and environmental sciences.”

The purpose of the webinar series is to share the diverse topics and applications related to radiocarbon dating. It will involve researchers at Penn State, and will be hosted by Culleton. Additionally, radiocarbon experts from other institutions who have expertise in specific applications are planned to make presentations in the series.

“This webinar series will cover the fundamentals of radiocarbon research — sample preparation, measurement and interpretation — and expand into case studies in diverse fields, ranging from the historical sciences to forensics, astrophysics, ancient DNA and more,” said Culleton. “The series is designed to lay the conceptual foundations for a lay audience to understand the research and deliver engaging talks to inspire and entertain.”

Accelerator mass spectrometer radiocarbon measurements provide direct chronological data critical to developing absolute timelines for the historical sciences, including archaeology, art history, paleontology, geomorphology and paleoecology.

“By building and integrating parallel records of social, environmental and ecological change over the last 50,000 years, we discern causal relationships and dynamic feedbacks in human-environment interactions that inform our present and future,” Culleton said.

The Radiocarbon Laboratory is a part of the Energy and Environmental Sustainability Laboratories, which are shared multi-user instrumentation facilities at Penn State that tie together world-class instrumentation and expertise in a broad array of analytical techniques covering materials in all phases.

EESL is a part of the Institutes of Energy and the Environment, a Penn State research unit that works to build teams of experts from different disciplines to see how new ways of thinking can solve some of the world’s most difficult energy and environmental challenges.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Two researchers have become cofunded faculty members in the Institutes of Energy and the Environment (IEE): Hee Jeung Oh, an assistant professor in the College of Engineering, and Hilal Ezgi Toraman, an assistant professor in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences with a joint appointment in the College of Engineering.

Hee Jeung Oh

Oh’s work addresses pressing challenges in the water-energy nexus and in health. Her research focuses on designing innovative membranes for energy-efficient separations, energy storage and biomedical devices.

“With the world’s population growing rapidly, the need for clean water and energy is greater than ever, and with rising life expectancy, the prevalence of age-related diseases is increasing rapidly,” Oh said. “It may sound like a broad range of applications, but when looking at the fundamental core of my research group, we focus on polymer membranes for molecule separation and study how small molecules such as water, ions and gases selectively move across the polymer membranes.”

According to Oh, polymer membranes play central roles in technologies related to clean water, including reverse osmosis desalination and forward osmosis, as well as in energy storage such as polymer electrolytes in batteries and fuel cells, electrodialysis and artificial photosynthesis. It also includes biomedical engineering in items such as sensors, hemodialysis and both drug release and capture.

“Our research program includes designing and synthesizing new polymers, developing processing methods for new structures and evaluating their transport and structural properties,” Oh said. “These four areas (design, synthesis, processing and characterization) are highly complementary to each other and are necessary to develop our molecular-level understanding of transport in polymer membranes and eventually the design principles of advanced membranes.”

Oh said her research group’s work is highly interdisciplinary.

“We have been working with surgeons at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine for last several years to develop polymer membranes for removing unwanted chemotherapy drugs from the body. We also have worked with engineers in a 3D printing company called Carbon Inc. to develop 3D membranes for biomedical devices,” Oh said. “The environment at Penn State is perfectly suited for our research program and we are excited to be a part of IEE.”

Before coming to Penn State, Oh completed her postdoctoral training in chemical and biomolecular engineering at University of California, Berkeley. She earned her doctorate and master’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and her bachelor’s degree in chemical and biomolecular engineering from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.

Hilal Ezgi Toraman

Toraman’s research interests include chemical reaction engineering with a focus on developing new processes, materials and technologies for efficient and sustainable use of shale gas, biogas, biomass and plastic waste.

Toraman noted that her research is in line with the Stewarding Our Planet’s Resources thematic area of Penn State’s strategic plan.

“I am planning to work on methane, which is the main constituent of shale gas and biogas,” she said. “Methane, which is currently underutilized, has the potential to be an essential source of energy and chemicals in the near future.”

Plastic is another aspect of Toraman’s research, which she pointed out is used widely yet little thought has been given to how plastic impacts waste management systems.

“The overwhelming majority of global plastic waste, roughly 80%, is being landfilled or contaminating the environment, and this has serious climate, health, social and economic implications,” Toraman said. “Studies show that if we continue with our current practices, by 2050 the ocean will hold more plastic than fish by weight. In short, plastic waste is an emerging feedstock that calls for our attention. The technologies that I will develop will allow the chemical recycling of plastic wastes into useful products such as fuels and chemicals.”

Toraman was also recently named the Virginia S. and Philip L. Walker Jr. Faculty Fellow in Materials Science and Engineering and Fuel Science Program at Penn State.

Prior to arriving at Penn State, Toraman was a postdoctoral researcher with the Delaware Energy Institute at the University of Delaware. She earned her doctorate in chemical engineering from Ghent University, Belgium. Toraman received her master’s and bachelor’s degrees in chemical engineering, both from Middle East Technical University, Turkey.

The Institutes of Energy and the Environment is a Penn State research unit that works to build teams of experts from different disciplines to see how new ways of thinking can solve some of the world’s most difficult energy and environmental challenges.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State’s Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC) team reached new heights earlier this month when they participated in the regional finals of the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition for the first time.

The program provides institutions nationwide that offer information assurance or computer security programs with a competition to assess their students’ depth of understanding in protecting corporate network infrastructure and business information systems.

“CCDC simulates a cybersecurity team’s worst nightmare – a network breach,” said team captain Brant Goings (senior, cybersecurity analytics and operations). “CCDC brings that into a competitive environment by having a live red team – the attackers – onsite actively trying to break into your extremely vulnerable machines while you try to keep them out and secure them at the same time.”

Held April 2-4, this year’s regional finals competition scenario involved teams of eight students working with the Artificially Intelligent Institute – a fake company which teams were tasked to protect.

“Artificially Intelligent Institute was a company that managed client electronic medical records as well as hosted an ecommerce website for customers to purchase products and services from,” Goings said. “Within the company, employees relied on their email to communicate between customers and other staff. Our job was to keep those services up and secure throughout the 16 hours we competed.”

But this was just part of the responsibility the team faced. Goings said the team was also tasked with keeping the CEO updated on their work, as well as writing documentation for employees to follow, incident reports in the event of breaches, and updated policies to keep the company from failing audits.

Mark Wallace (senior, cybersecurity analytics and operations) said that teams were scored on the length of time services, such as the company email and website, are up; as well as on various tasks, such as creating new users, configuring new firewall rules, creating new services or briefing executives.

“Teams can also earn back points by providing documentation on how hackers got into their systems and how the team took steps to protect it,” he said.

While the competition is typically demanding, according to Penn State faculty adviser Nick Giacobe, this year’s regional finals competition was even more challenging with last-minute changes put into place due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Social distancing guidelines and stay-at-home orders prevented students from traveling to competing at John Hopkins University, like in previous years. In a typical competition, each team works against each other in a virtual environment within the same physical location; however, this year, each member of each team was also required to work remotely with one another from their locations all across the country.

“Normally in the regional qualifiers we are in the same room, are able to look at each other face-to-face, and have the benefit of a quiet room to work in together,” Goings said. “However, with COVID-19 and all the changes that has brought, we had to compete from eight different rooms over a teleconferencing platform and weren’t able to work as efficiently as we would’ve been able to otherwise.”

The Penn State team was one of 33 teams that participated in the competition’s Mid-Atlantic regional qualifier on March 21. From there, Penn State and seven other teams advanced to the regional finals. Though the Penn State team did not further advance to the national finals, Wallace is proud of the obstacles the team overcame throughout the competition – including his own connection issues from his apartment.

“I think it was a struggle for all teams to communicate online, but everyone did a fantastic job,” Wallace said.

Other members of the Penn State team included Namo Asavisanu (junior, computer science), Evan Eastwood (senior, cybersecurity analytics and operations), Petr Esakov (junior, electrical engineering), Jason Mercede (junior, cybersecurity analytics and operations), Matt Ruff (senior, information sciences and technology and security risk analysis) and Justin Wu (junior, cybersecurity analytics and operations).

Goings added that the while the regional finals proved to be difficult, the team found excitement in completing the flood of side challenges given by the CEO while simultaneously keeping up with the pressure of attacks.

"Our seamless teamwork was worth celebrating at the end of the second day, plus the fact that we could still laugh together after being mentally exhausted by the end of it,” he said. “We performed very well considering our competition environment and are proud of the precedent we set for future PSU teams.”

Both Goings and Wallace encourage any interested Penn State student to get involved with CCDC.

“There are so many reasons to do CCDC,” said Wallace. “You are getting real world experience, and you actually get to defend a company network against an advanced team of hackers.”

He added, “I got to connect with a lot of professionals in the industry and have already gotten emails asking me to look at their company’s job openings.”

A little coconut boy growing on a tree eagerly awaits an opportunity to serve the Japanese military service. One day, he falls into the ocean and is scooped up by sailors on a navy ship. No longer a boy, but rather an ordinary coconut, the sailors whack the coconut in half and use it to scrub the deck.

“This children’s story with its accompanying illustrations is not a blatant message that the Japanese military will strip you of your humanity and grind you up and spit you out, but it does hint at the perils of serving in the Asia and Pacific War,” said Charlotte Eubanks, head of the Department of Comparative Literature, Japanese and Asian Studies, Penn State.

Eubanks is the author of a new book, titled “The Art of Persistence: Akamatsu Toshiko and the Visual Cultures of Transwar Japan,” which was published by the University of Hawaii Press on Dec. 31, 2019. The book details the life of Akamatsu Toshiko (1912-2000), who wrote and illustrated the coconut boy story, and who often straddled the line between resistance and complicity in her newspaper and children’s illustrations.

“If you actively protested World War II in Japan you could have been jailed or killed,” said Eubanks. “Toshiko spoke up where she could, while still preserving her health and wellbeing.”

This middle space between resistance and complicity, which Eubanks refers to as persistence, is the overarching theme that she explores in her book.

“Like resilience, persistence signals a commitment to not disappearing or becoming irrelevant, but like complicity, it involves unseemly compromises with people in power,” she said “Persistence is somewhere in that messy, muddled, gray area.”

Beyond the details of Akamatsu’s life, the book also addresses major events in modern Japanese history, including colonization and empire, war, the nuclear bombings and the transwar proletarian movement.

Akamatsu was a major cultural producer throughout all of these periods. In 1948, with her husband, Maruki Iri, she created and exhibited the “Nuclear Series,” a set of highly influential and powerful artwork depicting the aftermath of the Hiroshima bombing. The couple spent much of the rest of their lives traveling the world to protest war and nuclear proliferation. They were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995.

“Akamatsu wasn’t a martyr for her cause, but she was still able to do things that made her proud,” said Eubanks. “Her persistence enabled her to have an impact over the course of several decades. I respect her for that.”