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Water

A world shaped by water and access
Three people test water below a sand dam.

Griffin Pitt, right, works with two other student researchers to test the conductivity, total dissolved solids, salinity, and temperature of water below a sand dam in Kenya.

(Image: Courtesy of Griffin Pitt)

A world shaped by water and access

Griffin Pitt’s upbringing made her passionate about water access and pollution, and Penn has given her the opportunity to explore these issues back home in North Carolina and abroad.

3 min.

Water Environment Federation, Amazon, Penn’s Water Center, and leading utilities of the world launch groundbreaking Water-AI Nexus Center of Excellence 
Open water.

The Water-AI Nexus Center of Excellence will work to ensure AI growth benefits water resources and reduces stress on water resources.

(Image: Levente Bodo)

Water Environment Federation, Amazon, Penn’s Water Center, and leading utilities of the world launch groundbreaking Water-AI Nexus Center of Excellence 

The first-of-its-kind initiative will develop best practices to minimize water impact in the age of AI.

5 min. read

The global threat of salt contamination to water supplies
Green, diatom and blue-green algae in the blooming water of a coastal salt puddle on the shore

Image: Oleg Kovtun via Getty Images

The global threat of salt contamination to water supplies

Research from Weitzman’s Allison Lassiter and an international team of researchers highlights how a combination of climate change impacts and localized human activities are intensifying the increase in salt in vital freshwater sources.

From the Weitzman School of Design

2 min. read

New class of materials passively harvest water from air
A water droplet reflecting the color spectrum.

Image: MamiGibbs via Getty Images

New class of materials passively harvest water from air

Researchers at Penn Engineering have discovered a new class of nanostructured materials that can pull water from the air, which could enable new ways to collect water in arid regions and devices that cool electronics or buildings using the power of evaporation.

Melissa Pappas

2 min. read

Rivers in a changing world
Penn students and Sayre high school students wading in a river in Cobbs Creek.

Sayre ninth-grade science teacher LaRon Smith (center) is a former landscape gardener from South Philadelphia who switched careers to mentor a younger generation. “I think my passion is for them to be better individuals, better human beings,” Smith says.

nocred

Rivers in a changing world

A new Academically Based Community Service class brings Penn and William L. Sayre High School students together to learn environmental science and engineering.

Kristina Linnea García

What the EPA limits on ‘forever chemicals’ in water mean
A glass of water being poured.

Image: iStock/Byjeng

What the EPA limits on ‘forever chemicals’ in water mean

Brianne Callahan of the Water Center explains the new regulations on PFAS, plus how they might affect consumer water bills, health, and more.

Michele W. Berger

‘Moving along’ to the Dutch-German border
Two people sit in front of the glass doors of a brick building.

Simon Richter (left) chats with Dutch comedian Patrick Nederkoorn in a still from the documentary “A New Peace of Münster.”

(Image: Courtesy of Maria Kolossa)

‘Moving along’ to the Dutch-German border

A new documentary co-produced and co-starring Simon Richter of the School of Arts & Sciences invites viewers to imagine the day when the Dutch may have to move toward Germany as sea levels rise and how that might happen peacefully and innovatively.

Kristen de Groot

Interfacial phenomena: Samantha McBride’s untapped resource for water sustainability
Crystalline coffee ring deposited on superhydrophobic post surface.

Crystalline coffee ring deposited on superhydrophobic post surface.

(Image: Courtesy of the McBride Lab)

Interfacial phenomena: Samantha McBride’s untapped resource for water sustainability

At her lab, McBride is developing technology that can change the face of water security using a multidisciplinary range of scientific disciplines, including physics, chemistry, and materials science.

From Penn Engineering Today