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Water

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.

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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 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

Energy Week to highlight research across disciplines at Penn
Students talks during Energy Week in 2023.

Joey Wu, a student in the Vagelos Integrated Program in Energy Research (VIPER), gave a presentation on "Super Plants" as part of the Lightning Talks during Energy Week in 2023.

(Image: Courtesy of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy)

Energy Week to highlight research across disciplines at Penn

The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy and Vagelos Institute for Energy Science and Technology are hosting Energy Week March 11-15, with more than two dozen events featuring Penn faculty, students, and outside experts.
A hub for water innovation and leadership
Jazmin Ricks and high school students from Paul Robeson High School at Cobbs Creek.

Jazmin Ricks teaches students from Paul Robeson High School during the 2022 Cobbs Creek Summer Enrichment program.

(Image: Melanie Chu)

A hub for water innovation and leadership

As the Water Center marks five years on campus, Penn Today takes a look at its achievements, ongoing projects, and plans for the future.

Liana F. Wait

Cool for the summer
Philadelphia Inquirer

Cool for the summer

Joseph Wharton, founder of the Wharton School is referenced for having influenced Philadelphia’s sources of drinking water. Wharton proposed building a series of canals and lakes from the Pine Barrens, channeling the water west, into a pipe that would cross beneath the Delaware, into Philadelphia.

Climate change could threaten Philly’s drinking water
WHYY (Philadelphia)

Climate change could threaten Philly’s drinking water

Allison Lassiter of the Weitzman School of Design discusses the options for protecting Philadelphia drinking water if rising seas and drought threaten sections of the Delaware River.

First UN Water Conference in four decades includes a delegation from Penn
Four panelists sit at table listening while one speaks into microphone

Rohit Aggarwala of the NYC Environmental Protection underscored that managing for drought necessitates cross-border cooperation. “If we think of this as a zero-sum game, we’re going to lose,” he said.

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First UN Water Conference in four decades includes a delegation from Penn

Events on campus last week kicked off the global proceedings, which will include representatives from the Water Center at Penn, Penn Carey Law School, and the School of Arts & Sciences.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Green solutions are transforming a West Philadelphia grade school
Four students dig a hole in a garden at Hamilton School in Philadelphia.

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Green solutions are transforming a West Philadelphia grade school

With support from grants and the Netter Center, the Andrew Hamilton School in Cobbs Creek is now home to a food forest and a thriving garden, providing healthy produce, green space, stormwater management, and educational opportunities.

Katherine Unger Baillie