Proposed 2008-09 Research Centers
November 2008
New research centers proposed for EESI
Proposals for several new centers committed to interdisciplinary research and educational activities in environmental sciences were recently aired at the EESI Center Proposal Presentations (May 7) as directors of those centers detailed their initiatives, noting goals and objectives.
EESI supports faculty-directed centers with operating funds and staff and by providing physical space. Currently, 10 centers are part of EESI.
Directors of six of EESI's existing centers also outlined their work. Those centers include the Center for Energy and Environmental Risk, CEER, Center for environmental Kinetics Analysis, CEKA, Center for Environmental Informatics, CEI, Earth System Science Center, ESSC, Penn State Ice and Climate Research Center, PSICE, and the Center for Public Policy Research on the Environment, Energy and Community. EESI also is home to the Northeastern Regional Center of the DOE National Institute for Climate Change Research located at Penn State.
The proposed new centers include: Center for Climate Risk Management, CRIM, which would be directed by Klaus Keller and which would build interdisciplinary collaborations among faculty in engineering, economics, earth sciences and statistics. Klaus indicated climate risk management is a fast-growing field, and a center with that focus was a natural extension of Penn State's expertise in climate risk assessment.
Center for Land-Air-Water Studies, CLAWS, which will bring together climate and soil scientists, chemical and biological oceanographers, hydrogeologists and glaciologists to study the critical interfaces of global climate change. The center's activities and foci will include process studies and fieldwork Anne Thompson would serve as director.
Riparia which would draw upon and expand the work of the Cooperative Wetlands Center. Its focus would include wetlands ecology, landscape hydrology and watershed management. Rob Brooks would serve as director.
The centers which will receive EESI support for 2008-09 will be announced in early June.
For more information on EESI centers, visit: RESEARCH - EESI Centers and Initiatives.