Skip to Content Skip to Content
Eric Sucar
Articles from Eric Sucar
First snow
Students gathered outside Meyerson Hall

First snow

The earliest record of accumulated snow in Pennsylvania fell in October, 1972. This year's first snow wasn't as record-breaking, but it was an unexpected, one-day autumnal wonderland.

Penn Today Staff

Marching toward the market
Visiplate team members

Marching toward the market

Rui Jing Jiang and Brandon Kao, winners of the 2018 President’s Innovation Prize, are well on their way to their goal: to gain FDA approval for a device to treat glaucoma.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Showcasing veteran voices
JD Goins sits near a window, looking out onto the beautiful fall colors on the Penn campus' trees.

James “J.D.” Goins, of Nashville, Tenn., says the lessons he learned in the U.S. Air Force have prepared him for a life of enlightenment at Penn and beyond. 

Showcasing veteran voices

After regularly searching through campus events, sophomore James “J.D.” Goins says he had a difficult time finding activities that showcased veteran voices. To change that, he is launching a series of campus conversations, bringing veterans who are now involved in business, politics, and other industries to Penn to share their insights on success.
Dry conditions may have helped a new type of plant gain a foothold on Earth
Pots on a table in a greenhouse filled with grasses in various stages of growth

Biochemical and paleoclimate modeling revealed that plants with a new photosynthetic pathway known as C4, present in several important crop species today, emerged when atmospheric carbon dioxide was still quite high, roughly 30 million years ago. Water limitations, rather than Co2, drove its initial spread, a Penn-led team found.

Dry conditions may have helped a new type of plant gain a foothold on Earth

Plants reap energy from the sun using two photosynthesis pathways, C3 and C4. A new study led by Haoran Zhou, Erol Akçay and Brent Helliker suggests that water availability drove the expansion of C4 species, which may help to explain how different plant lineages came to be distributed on the planet today.

Katherine Unger Baillie

A veteran’s story: Saluting diversity at Penn
Army veteran Jesse Raines seated on a bench near a glass window.

The first in his family to attend college, Penn senior Jesse Morgan Raines of Reno, Nev., volunteers with Service2School, a non-profit that helps veterans gain access to higher education opportunities.

A veteran’s story: Saluting diversity at Penn

Senior Jesse Morgan Raines is a veteran who spent eight years in the Army. Today, he volunteers with Service2School, a non-profit organization that helps veterans gain access to higher-education opportunities.
New Ronald O. Perelman Center looks to the future while preserving the past
VIPs cutting the Perelman building ribbon Gutmann (center) was joined on stage by (from left to right) Penn Provost Wendell Pritchett, Perelman, Cohen, and School of Arts and Sciences Dean Steven J. Fluharty.

New Ronald O. Perelman Center looks to the future while preserving the past

For the first time, the School of Arts and Sciences’ departments of Political Science and Economics will coexist in the same building.
One in 200 million
Penn President Amy Gutmann exits the voting booth

Penn President Amy Gutmann exits the voting booth at the Vance Hall polling location on campus.

One in 200 million

On Election Day, Penn President Amy Gutmann took part in the civic duty and privilege of casting her vote.
Sniffing for science
Melissa Hopkins leans over to give a treat to her dog Cedar as instructor Meghan Ramos and other class participants look on

Melissa Hopkins stands ready with a treat as her dog Cedar successfully locates a target scent during a class at Penn Vet’s Working Dog Center. One of the course’s instructors, Meghan Ramos (at left in blue), says the course allows owners to “help their dog contribute to society in a positive way.”

Sniffing for science

In the “Citizen Science” course at the School of Veterinary Medicine’s Working Dog Center, Meghan Ramos and Tessa Seales work with dog owners to enhance their pups’ scent detection skills, with an eye toward bolstering the Center’s research.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Ball in play with Emily Sands
Emily Sands poses on Rhodes Field

Ball in play with Emily Sands

The junior forward and leading scorer on the women’s soccer team discusses her string of game-winning goals and playing for the Ivy League co-champions.
Load More