UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Earth and Environmental Systems Institute (EESI) EarthTalks spring 2024 series, “Urban Systems Science,” will explore complex urban systems including interactions between tightly connected human and natural systems both within city boundaries and between cities and the surrounding rural environment. The seminars are scheduled for 4 p.m. on Mondays in 112 Walker Building. Seminars are free and open to the public.

A growing majority of the world’s population lives in cities. Understanding how cities function is critical to monitoring, managing and improving the urban environment and the environment of the entire globe. The urban environment is also highly heterogeneous, often including striking disparities in the living conditions of and environmental quality experienced by the urban population. Understanding the causes of these disparities, and working towards improving the health, economy and living conditions for disadvantaged populations is a critical challenge in urban systems.

The spring 2024 Earth Talks series, “Urban Systems Science,” will bring a series of leading researchers engaged in this increasingly important area of earth, environmental and social sciences research. The series launches on Jan. 22 and talks are also available via Zoom.

Spring 2024 schedule:

• Jan. 22 – Esther Obonyo, Penn State, topic TBA
• Jan. 29 – Peter Groffman, City University of New York and Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, topic TBA
• Feb. 5 – Melissa Allen-Dumas, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, “Urban Microclimates”
• Feb. 12 – Shirley Clark, Penn State, “Urban Hydrology”
• Feb. 19 – Rahman Azari and Wangda Zuo, Penn State, “Buildings and Energy”
• Feb. 26 – Christa Brelsford, Los Alamos National Laboratory, “Urban Hydrology”
• Mar. 11 – Ben Zaitchik, John Hopkins University, “Heat Stress”
• Mar. 18 – TC Chakraborty, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, “Urban Climate Modeling”
• Mar. 25 – Michael Bader, John Hopkins University, “Urban Demographic Dynamics”
• Apr. 1 – Kirsten Koehler, John Hopkins University, “Sensor and Health”
• Apr. 15 – Michael Waring, Drexel University, “Indoor Air Quality”
• Apr. 22 – Ashish Sharma, Argonne National Laboratory and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, “Climate Downscaling”

The EESI EarthTalks series is hosted by Penn State’s Earth and Environmental Systems Institute. For more information about the Spring 2024 series, visit the EarthTalks web page.