| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
| |
Consortium
Vice President Eric Obert (kneeling)
conducts an experiment. |
With
no lab to go to, many scientists conducting
research at Lake Erie and the upper
Ohio River Basin have resorted to conducting
experiments out of their cars.
That will no longer be the case, thanks
to the newly created Regional Science
Consortium, a group that aims to coordinate
and conduct research in state-of-the-art
facilities at a new 65,000-square-foot
visitor education and research center
right by the entrance to Presque Isle
State Park in Erie.
Penn State Erie, The Behrend College's
Pennsylvania Sea Grant--an outreach
program that aims to increase public
awareness of environmental and economic
coastal issues--created the consortium,
which includes representatives from
14 area colleges and universities, a
number of federal and state agencies,
and private environmental organizations.
The consortium facilities will be housed
in the Tom Ridge Center, to be completed
this summer.
Scientists, including botanists, geologists
and ornithologists, will conduct research
at the center, studying issues ranging
from the history of shipwrecks to community
development, according to Eric Obert,
Cooperative Extension director of the
Pennsylvania Sea Grant and vice president
of the consortium.
Increased collaboration among scientists
and agency personnel is expected with
the new consortium. Much of their research
will focus on the Presque Isle area,
the city's impact on the watershed and
the watershed's unique geological formations.
Environmental
and Economic Questions
For
instance, Obert expects that scientists
will examine the contaminated sediments
along the Presque Isle shoreline to
gauge pollution's effects on the environmental
health of the immediate area and the
larger Great Lakes region. Researchers
will also consider economic questions,
such as whether a large-scale environmental
clean up will result in more tourism
for the area.
In addition to creating academic courses
for undergraduate and graduate students,
consortium members and the Pennsylvania
Department of Conservation and Natural
Resources education staff are in the
process of developing an environmental
education curriculum and programs for
K-12 students and their teachers.
The new facilities will include a 6,000-square-foot
research area with an aquatics lab,
a botany lab, a microscopy teaching
lab with audiovisual equipment, a cultures
lab, a general chemical wet lab and
a prep lab for preparing samples. In
addition, it will house two archival
rooms, one for plants and one for nonplant
specimens. The consortium will also
develop a 1,000-square-foot wet lab
at the Presque Isle Marina that will
allow scientists to conduct research
on specimens in lake water.
|
|
|
 |
|
Robotic
milkers are expensive for small-scale
farmers. Are they worth it?
Howard
P. Nuernberger--Information and
Communications Technologies, College
of Agricultural Sciences
|
|
When
is new technology not a good thing?
That's the question that Dr. Jeffrey
Hyde, assistant professor of agricultural
economics, asked when he considered
the economic impact that the purchase
of new and expensive robotic milkers
would have on small-scale dairy farms.
Working with graduate student Phoebe
Engle, Hyde developed a tool to help
dairy farmers determine if the efficiency
gained from the new technology would
offset the
monetary investment in the equipment.
Using two scenarios--replacing current
functioning equipment with robots or
replacing outdated or failing equipment
with robots--Hyde created a spreadsheet
that farmers can use to calculate whether
the robotic milker is worth it for them.
The main consideration is if farmers
can recoup their initial investment
within the normal, expected life of
the robot.
Many testers found the investment worthwhile:
"The results … indicate that
[the system] may well be profitable
for many dairy farmers," said Hyde.
Hyde sees global implications for the
tool. "Our assumptions closely
reflect small-scale dairy farms (60
to 180 cows), which are prevalent in
Pennsylvania. However, these farms exist
throughout the traditional dairy-producing
states and Europe."
|
 |
| |
 |
| |
A
new agreement with a Mexican university
aims to strengthen agriculture and workforce
development. |
A
new five-year agreement between the College
of Agricultural Sciences and the University
of Guanajuato in Guanajuato, Mexico, to develop
collaborative cooperative extension, research
and teaching opportunities is already producing
results: There are now plans for the first
official
4-H youth development program to be implemented
in the state of Guanajuato, just north of
Mexico City.
"The Hispanic population in Pennsylvania
has grown 70 percent in recent years, and
immigrants are becoming farm owners,"
explained Deanna Behring, director of international
programs for the college. "It's important
that we understand Mexican and other Latin
cultures.
|
 |
 |
|
A
new system will educate Westmoreland
County residents about renewable
power sources.
Howard
P. Nuernberger--Information and
Communications Technologies, College
of Agricultural Sciences
|
|
The
search for ways to help preserve the
natural environment in Westmoreland
County led Gary Sheppard, that county's
Cooperative Extension director, to explore
sustainable energy sources. The result:
a hybrid solar and wind power generating
system at the Westmoreland County Cooperative
Extension office, with the help of the
West Penn Power Sustainable Energy Fund
and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection.
The system will power the extension
office and serve as a demonstration
of renewable power sources for visitors
to the Donohoe Center, where the Cooperative
Extension office is located. "We
estimate that we will produce about
10 percent of the annual electric needs
of the Donohoe Center here in Greensburg,"
said Sheppard.
The system, which includes a 10-kilowatt
wind turbine engine along with a 2-kilowatt
solar panel, will demonstrate to center
visitors alternative energy sources,
such as wind and solar power. The project
also features an interactive educational
kiosk.
Sheppard is also in early discussions
with Allegheny Power regarding the opportunity
to sell "green credits" from
the center's system back to the company.
The price-per-kilowatt plan would reward
the extension office for making an investment
in renewable energy technologies.
|
|
 |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
