Doctor’s passion for the community brings important contributions to institute
On a recent summer day in Sharon, Pennsylvania, Dr. George Garrow ate lunch at café, a product of the former steel town’s revitalization efforts. A woman approached him as he sat eating.
“You probably don’t remember me,” she said, sheepishly, as she mentioned a medical issue he helped her…
Communities that Care prevention system helps to protect youth, study finds
Students in Pennsylvania school districts that participated in Communities that Care (CTC) coalitions were significantly less likely to use alcohol or marijuana, or to engage in delinquent behavior than those in non-CTC districts, according to a recent study published in Prevention Science.
Penn…
Denise Solomon named distinguished scholar by National Communication Association
Denise Haunani Solomon, professor and head of the Department of Communication Arts and Sciences in the Penn State College of the Liberal Arts, has received the 2019 Distinguished Scholar Award from the National Communication Association (NCA). She will receive the award during the association’s…
Team wins 5-year, $1.98 million NSF grant to improve teacher preparation
A team of Penn State College of Education faculty led by P. Karen Murphy has won a five-year, $1.98 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to improve the preparation of undergraduate preservice elementary teachers.
Murphy, distinguished professor of education (educational…
Examining the link between puberty and functional brain development
Puberty causes significant physical and psychological changes, especially in brain development, changing the way adolescents think and behave. Despite this, the effects of puberty on brain development is not well known.
To gain a better understanding, two Penn State researchers reviewed published…
Evidence lights the way
By Adam Gamoran, Science Magazine
These are dark times for science and public policy in the United States. In June, it was revealed that the White House suppressed the congressional testimony of a State Department scientist on the implications of climate change for national security—just the latest…
Education professor awarded Lyle Spencer grant to transform education
Karen Murphy, distinguished professor of education (educational psychology) at Penn State, and a multi-university/institute team has won a Lyle Spencer Research Award to Transform Education. The award is just shy of $1 million.
Murphy will be working with a multi-university collaborative led by…
AI in action: Seminars to explore artificial intelligence research possibilities
Artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms are already integrated into most of the electronic devices that we use and are powering the global economy’s transformation. But, analysts also warn that AI may have negative effects. For example, American market research company Forrester…
School district secessions shown to have deepened racial segregation
Since 2000, school district secessions in the South have increasingly sorted white and black students, and white and Hispanic students, into separate school systems, weakening the potential to improve school integration, according to a new study published today (Sept. 4) in AERA Open, a peer-…
Helping Alaskan coastal communities adjust to global warming
Alaskan coastal Indigenous communities are facing severe environmental changes that threaten to irrevocably damage their way of life. A $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) will allow Penn State researchers to assist local communities with foreseeable environmental challenges…
Penn State researchers lead the way in Water-Energy-Food research in Africa
Three Penn State researchers — Rachel Brennan, in the College of Engineering, and Mike Jacobson and Brian Thiede, in the College of Agricultural Sciences — recently received $250,000 in University Strategic Plan seed fundingto address global Water-Energy-Food (WEF) challenges.
The award, said…
ScholarSphere: Measuring the impact of open-access publishing
Effective Sept. 1, users of ScholarSphere, Penn State’s institutional repository service, will receive monthly reports detailing the impact of the research products they have contributed, including preprints, posters, data sets, research software and other open-access scholarly products.…
Why Social Science? - Because Social Science Is a Form of Service that Improves Quality of Life for People Around the World
By Arthur Lupia, PhD, Assistant Director for Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences, National Science Foundation
If you are reading these words, chances are you are a social scientist or someone who cares about social science. Either way, I am grateful to you and everyone who devotes…
NIH to begin requiring ORCID ID for many awards
The NIH, as well as several academic journals across disciplines, are now requiring (or soon will be) the use of an ORCID ID when submitting certain proposals or papers. The benefits to the worldwide research community are many - identification by the non-profit organization, ORCID, helps…
Foster care the focus of upcoming child maltreatment conference
The 2019 Child Maltreatment Solutions Network Conference, being held Sept. 23-24 at the Nittany Lion Inn on Penn State’s University Park campus, will focus on identifying and addressing the obstacles within the foster care system by translating research and evidence-based solutions into effective…
Study: Black students less likely to be identified as having disabilities
Black and Latino students in the South are less likely to be identified as having learning disabilities when compared to their White peers, according to a study that will be published in a forthcoming issue of Exceptional Children.
The most stark results included the number of Black students who…
Penn State, Monash University announce second year of joint projects
In 2018, Penn State and Monash University in Melbourne, Australia launched the Joint Collaboration Development Program, a jointly financed seed-fund program with the aim to collaborate on research projects. The first round of seed funding saw 23 projects funded. The two institutions have committed…
Douglas W. Pollock Center for Addiction Outreach and Research dedicated
Substance abuse has been among the most serious health care challenges facing communities across Pennsylvania and the nation. As a strategic priority, Penn State is committed to combating substance abuse and as a result has established the Consortium to Combat Substance Abuse. As part of the…
Suicide and self-harm risk is nearly triple in people with restless leg syndrome
Restless legs syndrome was associated with a nearly tripled risk of suicide and self-harm in a new study led by Penn State researchers.
Using Big Data, the researchers found that people with restless legs syndrome (RLS) had a 2.7-fold higher risk of suicide or self-harm, even when the researchers…
Education policy studies faculty member awarded co-funded grant
Kelly Rosinger, assistant professor of education in the Department of Education Policy Studies and research associate in the Center for the Study of Higher Education, and a team of researchers were recently awarded a total of $373,590 to analyze how variations in performance-based funding (PBF)…
SBIR Road Tour coming to University Park on Sept. 19
The U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) national SBIR Road Tour is coming to Penn State's University Park campus on Sept. 19 as part of a 16-stop tour to connect entrepreneurs working on advanced technology to the country’s largest source of early-stage funding — the Small Business…
'Fostering Lions' program connects foster youth with opportunity at Penn State
Carine Kelley always knew she wanted to attend college to pursue her dream of working for the FBI, but as a former ward of the state of Florida, she faced challenges not shared by many other college-bound students.
“I became a ward of the state when I was 14, after my dad passed away,” Kelley said…
Professor named to governor's Council on Reform to aid vulnerable populations
Jennie Noll, director of Penn State’s Child Maltreatment Solutions Network and professor of human development and family studies, is one of 25 individuals across the commonwealth to be appointed to Gov. Tom Wolf’s Council on Reform, which is designed to help protect vulnerable populations in…
Researchers analyze use of social media during Puerto Rican uprising
When the people of Puerto Rico took to the streets after a series of government corruption scandals this past July, a group of researchers took the opportunity to determine the role of social media in the organization and dissemination of the protests, marches and other activities that occurred.…
Marijuana may boost risky effects of drinking alcohol
As the legalization of medical marijuana and marijuana use are both on the rise in the United States, people are not necessarily using alcohol less and may be unaware of the risks of combining alcohol and marijuana, according to researchers.
A new study from Penn State found that compared to people…