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A sense of place on shifting shores
A colorful artist's rendering of a river with people fishing with a barge in the background and a drawing of an old map on the horizon

In works like “Memorial Day on the Delaware,” artist Roderick Coover blends natural, industrial, and historical imagery to convey a sense of place and experience. (Image: ©Roderick Coover)

A sense of place on shifting shores

Roderick Coover, whose work merges cinema, science, and history, is the 2019 Mellon Artist-in-Residence for the Penn Program in Environmental Humanities (PPEH). His recent film “Toxi-City: A Climate Change Narrative” screened at PPEH’s “Teaching and Learning with Rising Waters” event.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Five events to watch for in May
Tapestry held by two people blows in the air “Airplay,” part of the Philadelphia Children's Festival. (Photo courtesy: Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts)

Five events to watch for in May

Happening around campus this May: the second-annual Sachs Grant Awards, the Philadelphia Children’s Festival, and the screening of a 1930s Hollywood B-movie.
If Thanos actually wiped out half of all life, how would Earth fare in the aftermath?

If Thanos actually wiped out half of all life, how would Earth fare in the aftermath?

Lauren Sallan of the School of Arts and Sciences discussed the hypothetical results of a mass-extinction event, like the one depicted in “The Avengers” movie franchise. “I think humans would figure out a way to [survive], provided that not all of the ecosystems collapse,” said Sallan.

Boxes, pouches, cartons, and envelopes — oh my!

Boxes, pouches, cartons, and envelopes — oh my!

Eric Orts of the Wharton School spoke about the environmental impact of packaging waste. “Lots of it will still go into a landfill, for no really good reason,” said Orts. “If you look at something like the distribution system of Amazon, it doesn’t seem that hard to shift this.”

Protecting the planet at Penn
Hands planting a plant.

Protecting the planet at Penn

Earth Day and every day, the University community is at work to make the world a little better. Here are some highlights from those efforts.

Katherine Unger Baillie , Michele W. Berger

The Green New Deal: What it says, what it doesn’t say, and how close we are to adopting it
A view looking up into a forest of trees, with light streaming through.

In February, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) introduced a non-binding resolution to Congress known as the Green New Deal. It’s unclear how far it will progress, but it is fueling a long-needed conversation about climate change, according to Mark Alan Hughes of Penn’s Kleinman Center.

The Green New Deal: What it says, what it doesn’t say, and how close we are to adopting it

Mark Alan Hughes, director of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, discusses the basics of this energy-mobilization proposal.

Michele W. Berger

Confronting inequities, sharing solutions
A group of three rows of people wearing nametags poses for a photo.

This year’s Global Water Alliance Conference convened a diverse cross-section of individuals from backgrounds ranging from engineering to social justice. Their common thread? A shared interest in erasing disparities in access to clean water. (Photo: Pheng Tang/Global Water Alliance)

Confronting inequities, sharing solutions

At the annual meeting of the Global Water Alliance, faculty, students, and practitioners shared solutions and challenges around the issues of water access, sanitation, and hygiene in the U.S. and around the world.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Unearthing a botanical legacy, one seed at a time
seeds found at bartrams garden

Unearthing a botanical legacy, one seed at a time

Painstaking work by Penn Museum archaeobotanist Chantel White and students has verified what the Bartrams sold and exported to Europe in the 1800s, and shed light on the family’s daily dietary habits.

Michele W. Berger

The flower that blooms in the winter
Rubin red variety of witchhazels

The Hamamelis × intermedia variety of witchhazels, also known as Rubin. (Photo courtesy: Morris Arboretum)

  • Q&A

    • The flower that blooms in the winter

    The witchhazel is a species of flower that blooms in cold temperatures and lives around campus, and in abundance at the Morris Arboretum. The Arboretum’s Anthony Aiello talks the ins and outs of the strange species.