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Getting to the root of it: Why soil matters
Aerial view of fields at Penn Vet's New Bolton Center.

Penn Vet’s New Bolton Center.

(Image: Elliot Bullen)

  • Q&A

    • Getting to the root of it: Why soil matters

    Soil specialist Alain Plante of the School of Arts & Sciences explains what soil is, how it works, and why its health matters far beyond plant growth.

    3 min. read

    Penn announces nine 2026 Thouron Scholars
    Recipients of the 2026 Thouron awards are (left to right, top to bottom) Tristen Brisky, Charissa Howard, Jean Kim, Jordan Liu, Caroline Magdolen, Griffin Pitt, Andrew Schmidt, Sriya Teerdhala, and Megha Thomas.

    Recipients of the 2026 Thouron awards are (left to right, top to bottom) Tristen Brisky, Charissa Howard, Jean Kim, Jordan Liu, Caroline Magdolen, Griffin Pitt, Andrew Schmidt, Sriya Teerdhala, and Megha Thomas.

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    Penn announces nine 2026 Thouron Scholars

    Six fourth-year students and three recent graduates will use the scholarship award to pursue graduate studies in the United Kingdom.

    6 min. read

    Understanding the climate record through objects
    Melissa Charenko stands in front of art in her office.

    In her office, Melissa Charenko has paintings by artist Jill Pelto that depict the kind of climate proxies Charenko writes about in her new book, such as sediment cores containing pollen grains.

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    Understanding the climate record through objects

    Melissa Charenko’s new book shares the history of how 20th-century scientists used climate “proxies”—such as tree rings and fossil pollen—to understand past climates, which has implications for future climate action.

    3 min. read

    Letting the sunshine in and monitoring stormwater runoff
    Tree saplings next to the solar panels.

    Trees planted next to the solar panels are enhancing stormwater runoff infiltration.

    (Image: The Water Center at Penn)

    Letting the sunshine in and monitoring stormwater runoff

    As the buzz around renewable energy grows louder, a research endeavor led by the Water Center at Penn exemplifies of how addressing energy demands goes hand-in-hand with tackling water challenges.

    From the Environmental Innovations Initiative

    2 min. read

    Helheim Glacier: New information on sea-level rise
    A researcher walking through a glacier in Greenland.

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    Helheim Glacier: New information on sea-level rise

    For nearly a decade, Leigh Stearns and collaborators aimed a laser scanner system at Greenland’s Helheim Glacier. Their long-running survey reveals that Helheim’s massive calving events don’t behave the way scientists once thought, reframing how ice loss contributes to sea-level rise.

    5 min. read

    Two Penn faculty elected American Physical Society Fellows
    Ritesh Agarwal and Doug Jerolmack.

    Ritesh Agarwal (left), Srinivasa Ramanujan Distinguished Scholar in Materials Science and Engineering, and Douglas Jerolmack, Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Endowed Term Professor of Earth and Environmental Science and professor of mechanical engineering and applied mechanics.

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    Two Penn faculty elected American Physical Society Fellows

    Ritesh Agarwal of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and Douglas Jerolmack of the School of Arts & Sciences and Penn Engineering have been elected by their peers in recognition of their contributions to the field.

    2 min. read