9 January 2002-- "Planet Earth: Our Role in Its Health" is the topic of the 2002 Penn State Lectures on the Frontiers of Science, a series of free public lectures that will begin on Saturday, 19 January. Designed for the enjoyment and education of Centre Region residents, the lectures take place on six consecutive Saturday mornings from 11:00 a.m. to about 12:30 p.m. on the Penn State University Park Campus in 100 Thomas Building.

"How We Can Help the Earth Sustain Human Life?" the first lecture in the series this year, will be given on 19 January by Robert W. Corell, a senior fellow with the Atmospheric Policy Program of the American Meteorological Society, a senior research fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs of the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, and the former assistant director for geosciences at the National Science Foundation.

Corell will discuss issues related to the use of our current, though incomplete, scientific understanding of Earth's life-support systems to preserve the health of our planet for future generations while simultaneously allowing for human development. He also will discuss whether the new science of sustainability can effectively guide our decision making in both the private and the public sectors of our society.

Corell's current research concerns the trends toward sustainability, and focuses on both the sciences of global change and the interface between science and public policy. He is the executive director of a major international initiative, supported in part by a grant from the Packard Foundation, titled "An International Initiative for Science and Technology for Sustainability." He also is a co-director of a research project at Harvard University that is exploring methods, models, and conceptual frameworks for vulnerability research, analysis, and assessment. The current focus of this project is the vulnerabilities of indigenous communities in the Arctic. Prior to these appointments and the research associated with them, he was until January 2000 the assistant director for geosciences at the National Science Foundation, where he had oversight for atmospheric, earth, and ocean sciences and for global-change programs. Corell also served as the chair of the National Science and Technology Council's committee that has oversight of the U.S. Global Change Research Program. Further, he has served as chair and principal U.S. delegate to many international bodies with interests in and responsibilities for climate and global-change research programs.

Corell currently serves as the chair of the steering committee for the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment--an international assessment of the impacts of climate variability, change, and increases in levels of ultraviolet light in the Arctic Region. Prior to joining the National Science Foundation, he was a professor and academic administrator at the University of New Hampshire. An oceanographer and engineer by background and training, he has held appointments at the Woods Hole of Oceanographic Institution, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and the University of Washington.

All six lectures in the series are in 100 Thomas Building from 11:00 a.m. to about 12:30 p.m. on consecutive Saturdays through 23 February.

"Will Global Warming Let Us Feed Ten Billion People Without Trashing the Planet?" will be the second lecture in the series this year, and will be given on 26 January by William Easterling, professor of geography and director of the Environmental Consortium at Penn State. Easterling will discuss whether we will be able to provide enough food for the lifetime of our next two generations, during which Earth's human population is likely to more than double while our climate also will be changing rapidly.

"Mammoths, Moose, and How Animals Might Influence Earth's Response to Climate Change" will be the third lecture in the series this year, and will be given on 2 February by Eric Post, assistant professor of biology at Penn State. From extinct mammoths and mastodons in prehistoric times to moose, reindeer, and elk today, Post will describe how populations of wild animals and the ecosystem changes they cause might influence the climate of the Northern Hemisphere.

"Frogs, Toads, and Other Amphibians as Indicators of Global Change: Translating Global Change into Local Species Loss" will be the fourth lecture in the series this year, and will be given on 9 February by Joseph Kiesecker, assistant professor of biology at Penn State. Kiesecker will describe what frogs, toads, and other amphibians can teach us about our changing environment and its threats to Earth's species, including humans. He also will discuss how we can use measurements of global climate change to predict population declines for amphibian species in specific local regions, including Centre County, Pennsylvania.

"Green Economics: An Optimistic Approach to Human Interactions with the Environment" will be the fifth lecture in the series this year, and will be given on 16 February by Timothy Considine, professor of mineral economics at Penn State. Considine will describe an optimistic view of human interactions with the natural environment, focusing on the development of strategies for transforming traditional economies into closed-loop systems that use effluents from one process as raw materials for another, rather than "end-of-pipe" pollution control. He will describe the potential impact of using scientific innovations and new technologies as part of an "industrial ecology" approach to protecting and improving Earth's environment.

"Creating an Environmental 'Intelligence' Center" will be the sixth lecture in the series this year, and will be given on 23 February by Eric Barron, distinguished professor of geosciences and director of the Environment Institute in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences at Penn State. Barron will discuss efforts to anticipate the future of our climate and the use of those forecasts as a powerful tool for maintaining environmental quality, limiting threats to life and property, and enhancing economic vitality. He also will explore whether we are capable of using the discipline of forecasting as a decision-making tool for problems as diverse as air and water quality, the impacts of global warming, and human health.

The Penn State Lectures on the Frontiers of Science are sponsored by the Penn State Eberly College of Science for the enjoyment and education of residents in the communities near University Park. Financial support for the Penn State Lectures on the Frontiers of Science is provided by Pfizer Inc.

Thomas Building is located at the intersection of Pollock and Shortlidge Roads on the Penn State University Park Campus. Free parking is available in the Eisenhower Parking Deck behind Eisenhower Auditorium on Shortlidge Road. The lectures will be videotaped and copies can be obtained by calling Penn State Media and Technology Support Services in 26 Willard Building on the University Park campus at 814-863-4397. For more information or access assistance, contact the Eberly College of Science Office of Public Information by telephone at (814) 863-8453, by e-mail at science@psu.edu.

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