11th Annual Environmental Chemistry Student Symposium
Environmental Chemistry Student Symposium Highlights Interdisciplinary Research:
Undergraduate and graduate students from 11 different departments participated in the 11^th Annual Environmental Chemistry Student Symposium held recently (March 2008).
About 60 students participated in the event which included poster and oral presentations and a photography contest. Departments represented included crop and soil sciences; chemistry; wildlife and fisheries sciences; geosciences; ecology; environmental engineering; microbiology; and chemistry.
Douglas Call, an M.S./Ph.D. graduate student in environmental engineering, received the Overall Oral Presentation Award for his research involving the production of hydrogen gas using microbial electrolysis cells (MECs). Call’s work demonstrated that hydrogen recoveries are possible at rates of 78 percent to 96 percent with MECs lacking membranes. This opens the door to more simple and more cost-effective MEC designs.
Charles Jones, a Ph.D. student in chemistry, was awarded the Overall Poster Presentation Award for his research on the role of formic acid in cloud droplet formation. Researchers have determined that formic acid has the ability to bind to water on the molecular scale more easily than water binds with itself. The results from this study may help scientists better understand how organic acids might play a larger role than previously thought in the cloud chemistry of our atmosphere.
More than 30 faculty members—also from multiple departments—participated as judges.
The annual event is supported by the Eberly College of Science and the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences through the Center for Environmental Chemistry and Geochemistry, The Penn State Institutes of Energy and the Environment, The College of Agricultural Sciences, and the College of Engineering.
2008 ECSS AWARD WINNERS
Overall Poster Presentation Award - Charles Jones, Grad Student, Department of Chemistry
Poster Session – Ag and Soil Science
1 – Mike Castellano, Fellow, Pre-Doc, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences
2 – Maina Martir Torres, Grad Student, Department of Soil Sciences
Poster Session – Chemistry
1 – Rebecca Sanders, Grad Student, Department of Chemistry
2 – Christin Palombo, Grad Student, Department of Chemistry
Poster Session – Environmental Engineering
1 – Rachel Wagner, Grad Student, Department of Environmental Engineering
2 – Alessia Eramo, Grad Student, Department of Environmental Engineering
Poster Session – Meteorology & Others
1 – Jennifer Williams, Grad Student, Department of Geosciences
2 – Keith Price, Grad Student, Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences
Poster Session – Biogeochem & Microbiology 1
1 – Daniel Jones, Grad Student, Department of Geosciences
2 – Mary Kay Lupton, Grad Student, Department of Soil Sciences
Poster Session – Biogeochem & Microbiology 2
1 – Rebecca Grimme, Grad Student, Department of Chemistry
2 – Aaron Diefendorf, Grad Student, Department of Geosciences
Poster Session – Undergraduate
1 – Melissa May, Department of Environmental Resource Management
2 – Michael Skowronski, Department of Chemistry
Overall Oral Presentation Award – Douglas Call, Grad Student, Department of Environmental Engineering
Oral Presentation – Biology and Molecular Biology
1 – Heidi Albrecht, Grad Student, Department of Geosciences
2 – Christopher Ross, Grad Student, Department of Ecology
Oral Presentation – Agricultural Soil Science and Geochemistry
1 – Daniel Hummer, Grad Student, Department of Geosciences
2 – Ashlee Dere, Grad Student, Department of Soil Sciences
Oral Presentation – Environmental Engineering and Ecology
1 – Yi Zuo, Grad Student, Department of Environmental Engineering
2 – Jennifer McElhoe, Grad Student, Department of Environmental Engineering
Photography Contest
1 st place – Rachel O’Patchen, Undergraduate, Department of Microbiology
2 nd place – Ziming Zhuang, Grad Student, Department of Information Sciences and Technology
3 rd place – Beth Herndon, Graduate Fellow, Department of Geosciences