About the Lecture

When: Saturday, 9 February from 11:00 a.m. to about 12:30 p.m.

Where: 100 Thomas Building (located at the corner of Pollock and Shortlidge Roads on the University Park campus)

The Penn State Lectures on the Frontiers of Science is a series of Saturday-morning lectures begun in 1995 by a group of Penn State Eberly College of Science faculty in the Center for Gravitational Physics and Geometry. It was an innovative move for our college because these lectures were designed for the enjoyment and education of average citizens rather than for a specialized audience composed exclusively of scientists, as were our other annual lectures at that time. Abhay Ashtekar, director of the center and holder of the Eberly Family Chair in Physics, explained at that time, "One of the missions of the center is to improve scientific literacy both on and off campus by presenting such public lectures." (more history)

 

 

"The Promise of Solar Energy" is Free Public Lecture on 9 February

1 February 2008 —"The Promise of Solar Energy" is a free public lecture that will be given by John Golbeck, professor of biochemistry and biophysics and of chemistry at Penn State, on 9 February 2008. The event is the third of six lectures in the 2008 Penn State Lectures on the Frontiers of Science, which has the theme this year of "Running on Empty?: Strategies for Our Energy Future." This free minicourse for the general public consists of six lectures concerning current research on various energy options and the environmental consequences of their use. No registration is required. The lectures take place on six consecutive Saturday mornings from 11:00 a.m. to about 12:30 p.m. in 100 Thomas Building on the Penn State University Park campus.

Golbeck will discuss the potential of new technologies in solar energy to reduce energy-related contributions to global warming and global climate change. His research in solar energy is funded by the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Agriculture. His work focuses on the conversion of light into chemical energy in photosynthesis, on the generation of hydrogen using design principles inspired by biological systems, and on the gene regulation of photosynthetic reaction centers. Golbeck uses the techniques of molecular genetics and biochemistry in his research, as well as methods such as electron paramagnetic resonance, nuclear magnetic resonance, and laser-induced absorption spectroscopy.

Prior to joining the faculty at Penn State in 1996, Golbeck was a professor of biochemistry and professor of chemistry at the University of Nebraska from 1991 to 1995. In 1992, he took a sabbatical leave, serving as an engineer at the Centre de Saclay in Gif-sur-Yvette in France. Before that, he was an associate professor of chemistry at Portland State University from 1985 to 1988 and an adjunct professor at Oregon Graduate Institute from 1987 to 1990. From 1979 to 1985, Golbeck worked as a research scientist, senior scientist, and finally group leader at Martin Marietta Laboratories. In 1994, he took a short leave to serve as a visiting associate professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Golbeck earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry at Valparaiso University in 1971 and a doctoral degree in biological chemistry at Indiana University in 1976. In 2002/3, he took a sabbatical leave to serve as a visiting professor in the physics department at the Freie Universität, Berlin. He now divides his time between State College and Berlin.

Golbeck has published over 135 peer-reviewed journal articles and one textbook chapter. He also is the editor of a graduate-level textbook. He provides service to his scientific community as Secretary of the International Society for Photosynthesis Research.

The Penn State Lectures on the Frontiers of Science are a program of the Penn State Eberly College of Science that the college has provided annually since 1995. The 2008 series is sponsored jointly by the Eberly College of Science and the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. Financial support for the 2008 lectures is provided by a gift from the Chevron Corporation and by the Penn State Eberly College of Science.

For more information or access assistance, contact the Eberly College of Science Office of Public Information by telephone at (814) 863-0901, by e-mail at science@psu.edu, or on the Web at http://www.science.psu.edu/alert/frontiers/

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