Environmental Chemistry Student Symposium - Mar 27-28, 2009

by Becky Sanders, ECSS Co-Chair

The 12th Annual Environmental Chemistry Student Symposium (ECSS) was held March 27 – 28 with keynote speaker Dr. Richard J. Reeder, Department of Geosciences, Stony Brook University. During his two keynote addresses, Dr. Reeder discussed his research in crystal growth mechanisms, sorption, and phase transformations as well as the speciation of environmental contaminants and how that relates to bioavailability and human health.

This year’s symposium drew a diverse group of 65 undergraduate and graduate students who presented on a wide range of topics. Penn State participants represented several departments: Crop and Soil Sciences, Forest Resources, Horticulture, Geosciences, Materials Science and Engineering, Meteorology, Chemical Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Biology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Chemistry, and Forensic Science.

In addition, 16 talks and posters were presented by students from the following regional universities: Howard University; University of Virginia; Susquehanna University; Bucknell University; University of Maryland, Baltimore County; University of Maryland, College Park; and University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.

Elizabeth Herndon (Geosciences) received the highest overall score of all oral presentations for her discussion of the impact of aeolian deposition on manganese cycling in soils. The highest overall score in the poster presentations was awarded to David Doughty (Meteorology). He presented his research on the intercomparion of in situ tropospheric ozone measurements with aura-derived data products.

Michael Castellano, 1st place winner of
Chemistry and Soil Chemistry Poster

This year’s ECSS was made possible through the generous support of sponsors including the Center for Environmental Chemistry and Geochemistry, the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, the Environment and Natural Resources Institute (as part of the College of Agricultural Sciences), the Penn State Institutes of Energy and the Environment, the Eberly College of Science, the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, and the College of Engineering