Cities in Japan are characterized by a mosaic patchwork of urban and rural land use, which has developed over time as a result of planning laws and alternative food movements. Conventionally, the inability to establish a clear distinction between urban and rural landscapes has been viewed as a failure in Japan. However, mixed use landscapes can actually benefit cities by building resilience to natural disasters, providing ecosystem services, revitalizing shrinking cities and promoting food security.

The project received 2017 Erickson Discovery Grant. It is an oral history of the Taiwanese student leaders who organized Homeward movement (Fan-xiang movement) in order to fight against the dictatorship in the 1980s. This non-violent movement gave an end to the dictatorship which is a historical milestone for liberty in Taiwan. In this exhibition, I will present the historical context, the leaders personal experiences and its significance for Taiwanese society.

Hurricane Harvey devastated Houston, TX in August 2017 causing $100 billion in water damages across the city. Houston’s flat topography means that the area is vulnerable to flooding. My research uses GIS analysis to locate the most suitable sites along the Buffalo Bayou to construct new wetlands, calculate the acreage of wetland sites, and calculate potential cost of construction, ultimately reducing the impact of flooding in vulnerable communities.

Through an example of my own artwork, I will explain the value of signage throughout art history and into contemporary art today. Abstraction and simplification of the human figure and space serve as important tools in communicating memory and meaning; their reductive nature in fact contributes greater information. Whether through cave paintings, hieroglyphics, or the masterpieces of Picasso, symbolization rather than exact representation has been effective in expressing and magnifying the human experience.

Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem in society, and new drugs with novel targets can combat these resistant bacteria. The aim of this research is to identify inhibitors of the SigmaE/Hfq pathway in E. coli through screening a chemical library. This pathway is involved in a stress response in bacteria to maintain cell envelope integrity. After the identification of hits, secondary assays will be used to determine the specific target of the compounds.

Zooplankton are the base of many marine and freshwater food webs and play a critical role in the carbon cycle.  Biological oceanographic data were collected during a SEA cruise from the North Atlantic and Northeastern Caribbean Sea around Puerto Rico. Zooplankton were collected by neuston and meter net tows at eleven varying locations and manually categorized to determine diversity. Diversity decreased with depth, and patterns of diel migrations in both zooplankton and phytoplankton were observed.

*Abstract to come

450 million years ago, Pennsylvania was covered by a shallow sea. Previous studies on the marine ecosystems of this basin found their distribution relates to gradients in water depth and carbonate content (Bretsky 1970, Springer & Bambach 1985). New fossil localities in central Pennsylvania confirms these conclusions, and finds significant differences in the shoreface environment of the depth gradient along a north/south axis due to lithologic content.

Antibiotic resistance has become a clinical threat in recent years due to mass usage of antibiotics and evolving genetic mutations. One molecular pathway not targeted by current antibiotics is the trans-translation pathway. The Keiler Lab screened a 13,000-compound library. Various assays are currently testing potential inhibitory compounds from this screen confirming their activity against trans-translation.  Consequently, the goal is to develop novel antibiotics void of pre-existing resistant mechanisms to combat this phenomenon of resistance.

In 2017 the Meredith Lab discovered Lit, a putative membrane protein, that is responsible for creating lyso-form lipoproteins. Lit functions as a novel mechanism that has yet to be observed and is critical for understanding how these lipoproteins are formed. This proposed research measures activity of fusion proteins in order to determine the membrane topology of E. faecalis Lit. Results will provide a more in depth characterization of Lit and how lyso-form lipoproteins are made.

Puerto Rico is surrounded by different bodies of water which makes it a unique place to evaluate correlations between different variables and how they may affect the overall environment. During a week-long cruise on board the SSV Corwith Cramer, we recorded physical properties of the water from different locations around San Juan. Our data showed that chlorophyll-a levels changed depending on temperature, salinity, transmissivity, CDOM, current, and time of day.

Oceanographic conditions such as light and salinity can have an effect on both biotic and abiotic components of an ocean environment. Physical oceanographic data were gathered from water sampled from various depths in the South Atlantic Ocean and Northern Caribbean Sea. Light attenuation, transmissivity, temperature, salinity, density and fluorescence were analyzed to create deep water profiles. Our data suggested that physical characteristics change at various depths in conjoining bodies of ocean water.

The food security for India’s growing population is threatened by the decline in freshwater resources due to unsustainable consumption for irrigation. This issue is acute in parts of Punjab, India, where small landholders produce a major quantity of India’s food. This state-wide coupled hydrologic, agricultural, and economic model of Punjab was built to assess and optimize crop choice scenarios based on farmer income, food production, and hydrologic system constraints.

Increased antibiotic use along with the stagnant drug development in the pharmaceutical industry has lead to one of the world's most devastating problems: antibiotic resistant bacteria. The reign of antibiotic resistant bacteria like S. aureus continues to impact the lives of millions. A new pathway called trans-translation has been identified as a unique opportunity for fighting antibiotic resistance. Demonstrating that trans-translation is essential in S. aureus can ultimately lead to saving countless lives.

The community of Johnston Square is one of many in Baltimore suffering the effects of a shrinking city. With much of the neighborhood abandoned or in disrepair, local residents are pushing for a revitalization and looking for better ways to use these city spaces. This project describes one possible design solution to some of these issues and, more importantly, the geo-design process used to judge the appropriateness of the program and location.

Field Education and experiences during the 2017 Penn State CHANCE program in Cuba prompted the following research to be conducted in an attempt to answer: What efforts exist in the U. S. to protect and preserve coral reef ecosystems? Are there collaborations between the U.S. and Cuba?  Comparative analysis of conservation policies and practices between these two countries was used to answer these questions and to develop recommendations to enhance coral reef conservation in Cuba.