Urgent need for climate solutions spurs Penn State to launch ... - Pennsylvania State University
Urgent need for climate solutions spurs Penn State to launch Climate Consortium | Penn State University
Funding Availability
To catalyze interdisciplinary climate projects at the University, the Climate Consortium will announce funding for a Climate Solutions Accelerator, a new program designed to foster impactful research and bring effective climate solutions to communities in Pennsylvania and around the world. This competitive call for proposals will be released in two parts, a workshop call in December and a project proposal call in summer 2024. More information will be released on the Climate Solutions Accelerator in December 2023.
Faculty Engagement
Penn State’s climate science expertise is complemented by distinguished faculty in related disciplines such as energy, public health, social science, economics, communications, policy and law. This breadth of knowledge enables Penn State to identify and quantify challenges and develop sustainable applied solutions.
The Climate Consortium will be guided by a Faculty Advisory Committee consisting of Penn State faculty representatives from across the University’s colleges and campuses. Its purpose is to provide advice and feedback on the direction of the consortium. Committee membership will rotate regularly, providing opportunities for a wide range of Penn State faculty to participate.
The consortium is also leading an effort to bring new faculty members to Penn State. A cluster hire of up to seven new tenure-line faculty positions has been proposed. The search for two positions — one in climate science and one in risk and decision making — is underway in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. Additionally, two non-tenure-line positions are being proposed.
Climate Solutions Symposium
Another tangible effort by the Climate Consortium is the 2024 Climate Solutions Symposium. With the theme of “New Partnerships for People and the Planet,” the symposium will bring together professionals from academia, industry and governance to learn about climate research at Penn State and provide opportunities to discuss promising solutions and implementation strategies. This year’s symposium will take place on May 14–15, 2024, at The Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center. Faculty are encouraged to submit session proposals for this year’s event by Jan. 15, 2024. A call for posters and lightning talks will be announced in the spring.
History
The Climate Consortium, though new, has been in development for years. The original proposal was crafted by Smithwick and Tom Richard, professor emeritus and former director of the Institute of Energy and the Environment. With the proposal development came multiple climate-related efforts at the University. In 2019, Penn State hosted the Research to Action Conference with Project Drawdown and joined the International Universities Climate Alliance. In 2020, Penn State endorsed a letter urging world leaders, specifically G20 leaders, to protect humankind from climate change. In 2021, the Carbon Emissions Reduction Task Force was launched, aiming for carbon neutrality by 2035. In 2022, researchers responded to the Climate RISE Seed Grants, aligning climate projects with big data.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”