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Katherine Unger Baillie
Senior Science News Officer
kbaillie@upenn.edu
Earth and Environmental Science
Climate change doesn’t spare the smallest
Climate change doesn’t spare the smallest
Changing conditions have taken a toll on insects in the tropics, according to research by School of Arts & Sciences biologists Daniel Janzen and Winnie Hallwachs. But education and science offer a path forward, they say.
Rare sparrows make guest appearance at Penn
Rare sparrows make guest appearance at Penn
Earlier this year, Penn Medicine epidemiologist Doug Wiebe glimpsed two small all-white birds outside Van Pelt Library that turned out to be albino house sparrows. Their coloration is likely the result of a genetic condition in which a bird’s feathers lack pigment.
Treeswift’s autonomous robots take flight to save forests
Treeswift’s autonomous robots take flight to save forests
From Penn Engineering’s GRASP Lab, Treeswift uses swarms of autonomous, flying robots equipped with LiDAR sensors to monitor, inventory, and map timberland.
In paleontology, Peter Dodson is a king begetting kings
In paleontology, Peter Dodson is a king begetting kings
World-renowned paleontologist Peter Dodson names his greatest accomplishment: being a mentor.
Merging big data and marine biology
Merging big data and marine biology
Junior Ashna Sethi found an opportunity to delve into one of her passions this summer with paleobiologist Lauren Sallan’s lab in the School of Arts & Sciences.
At the intersection of the built environment, environmental health, and social justice
At the intersection of the built environment, environmental health, and social justice
Junior Kai Song and sophomore Sage Basri worked with faculty mentor Franca Trubiano this summer to learn more about the wide-reaching impacts of the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery.
Shining a light on the dangers of lead
Shining a light on the dangers of lead
Lead poisoning robs children of opportunity, and the impact is worse in underserved communities. Faculty and students at Penn are bringing scientific and policy attention to the problem, while empowering young people to minimize their risk and be leaders for change.
Plato was right. Earth is made, on average, of cubes
Plato was right. Earth is made, on average, of cubes
The ancient Greek philosopher was on to something, the School of Arts & Sciences’ Douglas Jerolmack and colleagues found.
300-million-year-old fish resembles a sturgeon but took a different evolutionary path
300-million-year-old fish resembles a sturgeon but took a different evolutionary path
Tanyrhinichthys mcallisteri recasts the notion of what it means to be a “primitive” vertebrate, according to paleontologists Lauren Sallan and Jack Stack.
The joys and trials of defending a dissertation virtually
The joys and trials of defending a dissertation virtually
When most aspects of university life moved online because of COVID-19, so, too, did the thesis defense for Ph.D. candidates. Despite some challenges, the shift had unexpected benefits.
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In the News
The Hill
Wealthy households have 25 percent higher carbon impacts than lower-income homes
Vincent Reina of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design spoke about how class affects access to sustainable energy alternatives. “For higher income individuals, it's a function of choice," he said. "For lower income individuals, it's a function of constraints.”
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The New York Times
Southern Iraq’s toxic twilight
Marilyn Howarth of the Perelman School of Medicine says oil rain, a byproduct of oil production, can be carcinogenic. “The oil itself can contain traces of heavy metals, arsenic, and radioactivity, which could be a source of lung cancer,” she said.
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Science
No asteroids needed: ancient mass extinction tied to ozone loss, warming climate
Lauren Sallan of the School of Arts & Sciences spoke about the end of the Devonian period 359 million years ago, in which the ozone layer was damaged, resulting in a mass extinction. The discovery is significant to today’s climate change research.
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WHYY (Philadelphia)
When it comes to coronavirus, air pollution may put marginalized communities in danger
Anil Vachani of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about the combined effects of air pollution and coronavirus on marginalized communities. “We’re certainly recognizing that exposure to chronic air pollution results in a number of adverse health outcomes which are increasingly recognized. It may even contribute to a whole host of other illnesses that we’re now understanding the links to, to poor air quality and air pollution,” he said.
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The Hill
R&D, not Greenland, can solve our rare earth problem
Research into rare earth metals by Eric Schelter, Patrick Carroll, Ph.D. student Justin Bogart, and alumnus Connor Lippincott of the School of Arts and Sciences was cited.
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Atlas Obscura
The secret lives of sand dunes
Douglas Jerolmack of the School of Arts and Sciences spoke about sediment transport and sand dunes, which move in response to temperature and time and can travel several feet each year.
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