Water Insights is an interdisciplinary seminar series on water science, water management, and water policy sponsored by the Institute for Sustainable Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Science (SAFES). Speakers include researchers, water managers, and water policy makers from Penn State, other universities, government agencies and non-governmental organizations.
Creek and wetlands
The series engages the University and broader community in collaborative learning and discussion about critical water challenges from local to global scales.
All seminars are scheduled for Tuesdays from 12:00-1:00 pm and will be via zoom. Zoom room open from 11:45 for setup and log-in. Meetings (video, audio, and chat) will be recorded. No waiting room, and no passcode. Participants will be muted automatically upon entry.
Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://psu.zoom.us/j/98145879350
Spring 2023
January 24
Speaker: Peter Stempel, Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture, College of Arts and Architecture
Talk Title: What can we learn from alternatives to flood visualizations?
Watch the Recording Here: https://psu.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/Water+Insights+Seminar/1_dsnukimf
February 7
Speaker: Cibin Raj, Assistant Professor of Agricultural & Biological Engineering, College of Agricultural Sciences
Talk Title: Circular Agricultural Systems: Potential of recycling organic nutrients in Pennsylvania and water quality benefits
Watch the Recording Here: https://psu.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/Water+Insights+Seminar/1_we2jnob7
February 21
Speaker: Lisa Emili, Associate Professor of Physical & Environmental Studies, Penn State Altoona
Talk Title: Accumulation and Degradation of Microplastics in the Environment
Watch the Recording Here: https://psu.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/Water+Insights+Seminar/1_kf7c4m45
March 21
Speakers: Lilliard Richardson, Professor of Public Policy & Director of the School of Public Policy & Pin Sun, Ph.D candidate Department of Economics, College of the Liberal Arts
Talk Title: Flood Zoning Policies & Residential Housing Characteristics in Texas
Watch the Recording Here: https://psu.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/Water+Insights+Seminar/1_f4jfwlvr
April 4
Speaker: Jack Vanden Heuvel, Professor of Molecular Toxicology Pharmacology, College of Agricultural Sciences
Talk Title: Mechanism-based Biomonitoring for Examination of Human Impacted Surface, Ground and Drinking Water
Watch the Recording Here: https://psu.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/Water+Insights+Seminar/1_3153wqs9
April 18
Speakers: Maurie Kelly, Director, Pennsylvania Spatial Data Access, Institute of Energy and the Environment
Talk Title: Flood Risk in PA: How the PA Flood Risk Assessment Tool Supports Flood Risk Mitigation Efforts in PA
Watch the Recording Here: https://psu.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/Water+Insights+Seminar/1_w27oloc0
May 2
Speakers: Nathaniel Warner, Associate Professor in Civil & Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering
Talk Title: Students Dig Microplastics Research
Watch the Recording Here: https://psu.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/Water+Insights+Seminar/1_izfx0ipk
Fall 2022
September 6-Flood Talks
Speakers: Lara Fowler- Director, Penn State Sustainability Institute & Senior Lecturer, Penn State Law; Andrew Warner-Director, Penn State Water Initiative & Alfonso Mejia-Associate Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Talk Title: An Introduction to Flooding
Watch the Recording Here: https://psu.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/Flood+TalksA+introductory+session/1_rdu8r07s
Link to Presentation Resources:
September 21- Emerging Issues
Speaker: Kim Van Meter, Assistant Professor of Geography, College of Earth & Mineral Sciences
Talk Title: Agricultural Wetlandscapes: Land-Use Legacies & Water Quality Futures
Watch the Recording Here: There is no recording for this session.
Link to Presentation Resources: Slide Show Presentation
October 5- Emerging Issues
Speaker: Kathy Brasier, Professor of Rural Sociology, College of Agricultural Sciences
Talk Title: Building & Researching Stakeholder Engagement for Water Quality & Quantity Management: The Water for Ag Project
Watch the Recording Here: https://psu.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/Water+Insights+Seminar/1_k64gez16
Link to Presentation Resources:
November 16- Emerging Issues
Speaker: William Hunt, William Neal Reynolds Distinguished University Professor, Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, North Carolina State University
Talk Title: Stormwater Management Evolution in 20 Years (since I left State College)
Watch the Recording Here: https://psu.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/Water+Insights+Seminar/1_bya4gqq8
Link to Presentation Resources:
Fall 2021
| October 5 |  |
Lauren Greenlee Nutrients from Wasterwater: Rethinking Contaminants as Resources to Recover |
| October 12 |  |
Jon Sweetman Water Insights into the Past: Extracting Environmental Information from Lake Mud |
| October 19 |  |
Jamie Colburn Pathological Jurisdiction Splitting: The Phenomena of Jurisdictional Waters |
| October 26 |  |
Christine Kirchhoff Actionable knowledge production and improved governance to address water challenges |
| November |  |
Christopher Scott Irrigation efficiency and water security: Promises, pitfalls and paradoxes |
| November 9 |
|
Alfonso Mejia & Michael Gomez Resilience and exposure of urban food supply systems to climate-induced food shocks |
| November 16 |  |
Kim Van Meter Agricultural Wetlandscapes: Land-Use Legacies and Water Quality Futures This talk was cancelled and will be rescheduled at a later date. |
| November 30 |  |
Margaret Kalcic Translational Data Analytics Institute Core Faculty Lake Erie water quality goals and watershed modeling |
| December 7 |  |
Suat Irmak Climate Change and Impacts on Agriculture and Natural Resources |
Spring 2021
| February 16 |  |
Dave Swisher |
|
February 23 |
 |
Andy Cole |
| March 2 |
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Karen Fisher-Vanden Matt Royer Current and Future Water Activities in SAFES: how can SAFES help catalyze coordinated research in water? |
| March 9 |  |
Nathaniel Warner Can freshwater mussels monitor water quality? |
| March 16 |  |
Li Li The shallow and deep hypothesis: linking flow paths, biogeochemical reactions, and stream chemistry in the Critical Zone |
| March 23 |
|
Paul Heinemann Scott Richardson David Stensrud
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| March 30 |  |
Michael Shreve Wastewater-based epidemiology and Covid-19 surveillance at Penn State |
| April 6 |  |
Ming Xiao
|
| April 13 |  |
Alan Rotz
|
| April 20 |  |
Emily Pakhtigian Assistant Professor, School of Public Policy Water use tradeoffs along development trajectories: Applications of hydro-economic modeling in international river basins Hosted by Danny Brent |
| April 27 |  |
Jenn Fetter
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| May 4 |  |
Jim Shortle Agriculture and Water Quality: Better Results Require Better Policy |
Fall 2020
Tuesday, September 22
Gerrad Jones, Oregon State University
Opening Pandora's box: machine learning applications for chemical forensics and non-target chemical analyses
Hosted by Heather Preisendanz
Tuesday, September 29
Tyler Groh
Nutrient Removal in Riparian Buffers: My Research Journey from Iowa to Pennsylvania
Hosted by Beth Boyer
Tuesday, October 27
Patrick Drohan
Ideas on a path for food production and society in the shadow of “big problems"
Hosted by Jon Duncan
Tuesday, November 3
Hongxing Liu, Lafayette College
Best Management Practices and Nutrient Reduction: An Integrated Economic-Hydrological Model of the Western Lake Erie Basin
Hosted by Danny Brent
Tuesday, November 10
Rob Brooks, Professor Emeritus Geography
Applying monitoring and assessment tools at multiple spatial and time scales on wetlands enforcement cases, with reflections on pending changes to the Clean Water Act
Hosted by Jim Shortle
Tuesday, November 17
John Tooker
Integrated Pest Management as a solution to a water quality challenge from neonicotinoid insecticides
Hosted by Jim Shortle
Tuesday, December 1
Michael Mashtare
Toilet to Field: Addressing Perceptions in the Age of Misinformation
Hosted by Cibin Raj
Tuesday, December 8
Herschel A. Elliott
Biosolids Land Application: Putting Risk in Perspective
Hosted by Jim Shortle
Spring 2020
Tuesday, January 21
Alfonso Mejia
The Multilayer Network Structure of Virtual Water Flows in the United States
Recording of Mejia Webinar- start at 1:00
Note: there is no sound in this recording
Tuesday, January 28
Heather Preisendanz
Contaminants of Emerging Concern in the Environment: Understanding Occurrence, Risk, and Mitigation Strategies
Recording of Preisendanz Webinar - start at 1:30
Tuesday, February 4
Jeffrey Chanat
Exploring drivers of regional water-quality change using differential spatially referenced regression
Recording of Chanat Webinar - start at 3:18
Tuesday, February 11
Andrew Warner
What is Penn State Water?
Recording of Warner Webinar - start at 6:22
Tuesday, February 18
Rob Brooks & Tamie Veith
Riparian Forest Buffers of the Susquehanna-Chesapeake Watershed: Observations, Assessments, and Recommendations
Recording of Brooks & Veith Webinar - start at 4:13
Tuesday, February 25
Ben Hayes
Landscape Memory: The Legacy of Logging on Pennsylvania Streams and Implications for Adaptive Restoration Approaches
Recording of Hayes Webinar - start at 1:00
