MIDDLETOWN, Pa. – Penn State Harrisburg will host the inaugural two-day research showcase, Thursday and Friday, Oct. 7 and 8, highlighting research accomplishments of Penn State Harrisburg faculty, staff and students. Multiple panel presentations are planned which can be attended in-person or virtually. Details and registration available here.
The agenda includes:
Thursday, Oct. 7, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Digital Connectivity in Transportation
- Sustainable Materials and Manufacturing
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in STEM
- Autism Prevention and Treatment
- Substance Use Disorder and Stigma
- Sylvia Earle keynote address – “Microplastics and the Built Environment: Impacts and Interactions” from 11:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. with introduction by Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Patrick McDonnell
Friday, Oct. 8, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Business and Industry Innovation
- Data Science and Big Data
- Exercise, Genetics, and Health
Sylvia Earle, oceanographer, explorer, author and lecturer, will present the keynote address “Microplastics and the Built Environment: Impacts and Interactions” on Thursday, Oct. 7 from 11:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Earle is the president and chair of Mission Blue, an Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society, founder of Deep Ocean Exploration and Research Inc. (DOER), chair of the Advisory Council for the Harte Research Institute and former chief scientist of NOAA.
Author of more than 225 publications and leader of more than 100 expeditions with over 7,500 hours underwater, Earle is a graduate of Florida State University with master of arts and doctoral degrees from Duke University, as well as 32 honorary degrees. Her research concerns the ecology and conservation of marine ecosystems and development of technology for access to the deep sea.
She is the subject of the Emmy Award-Winning Netflix documentary, “Mission Blue,” and the recipient of more than 100 national and international honors and awards including being named Time Magazine’s first Hero for the Planet, a Living Legend by the Library of Congress, 2014 UNEP Champion of the Earth, Glamour Magazine’s 2014 Woman of the Year, member of the Netherlands Order of the Golden Ark, and winner of the 2009 TED Prize, the Walter Cronkite Award, the 1996 Explorers Club Medal, the Royal Geographic Society 2011 Patron’s Medal, and the National Geographic 2013 Hubbard Medal.
The keynote address is funded and organized by the Pennsylvania Recycling Markets Center, Penn State Harrisburg, and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, and will be opened with an introduction from Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Patrick McDonnell.
