News and Events

ICECHIP was designed to improve hail detection, modeling and forecasting by collecting ground-truth observations of hail size, structure, and impact and addresses five research themes: hailstone growth and fall behavior, improving hail trajectory models, improving hail forecasting, how environmental factors influence hail production, and linking hailstone growth and damage to radar observations. 

Penn State researchers have found that tidal freshwater marshes along the Delaware River may act as major traps for microplastics, capturing large amounts of plastic particles before they reach the ocean. The findings challenge the traditional understanding of where plastic pollution accumulates and were recently discussed on the Institute of Energy and the Environment’s (IEE) “Growing Impact” podcast. 

Yvette Richardson, senior associate dean for undergraduate education and professor of meteorology in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, became the seventh in her field to earn the Nikolai Dotzek Award, the most prestigious prize in the severe weather research community.

The climate is changing and nowhere is it changing faster than at Earth’s poles. Researchers at Penn State have painted a comprehensive picture of the chemical processes taking place in the Arctic and found that there are multiple, separate interactions impacting the atmosphere.

The WPSU-featured broadcast "Weather World" is filmed in the Ban Family Studios. The space that's home to several student-centric productions was recently upgraded thanks to support from Ray Ban and his wife, Nancy Ban. Ray Ban graduated from Penn State in 1973 with a degree in meteorology, and in 1982 he helped launch one of cable television’s first channels, “The Weather Channel."

Four Penn State researchers have been selected as 2025 fellows of the Institute of Energy and the Environment (IEE). The IEE Fellowship Program recognizes researchers whose work has significantly advanced energy and environmental research and provides support to further their efforts. Nominees for the fellowship were submitted by University deans and department heads. 

Forecasting the weather can be a precarious venture. One change to a data point can have cascading effects. Astute forecasters need to adapt. That’s exactly what Chase Epps, a senior majoring in meteorology and atmospheric science, did when his planned summer internship fell through.  “I thought I was out of luck and just then I saw this email that NASA was in need of forecasters, and I thought, wow, this sounds like a great opportunity,” Epps said.

Freshwater tidal marshes, critical for wildlife and coastal protection, are now serving as microplastic catch basins, according to a team of researchers at Penn State. They recently found that these marshes trap large amounts of diverse plastics, with concentrations and ecological risks increasing downstream. 

No single weather moment drew Luke Snyder to meteorology, but an early obsession with the Weather Channel and a knack for science and math guided them toward it. An internship with one of the biggest news outlets in the world this summer sealed the deal.  Snyder is a senior double majoring in broadcast journalism and meteorology and atmospheric science. In less than five years, the Moon Township, Pennsylvania, native went from a nervous high school student searching for a career path to an intern for CNN’s weather team.

Members of the Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science in Penn State’s College of Earth and Mineral Sciences won four 2025 Professional Keystone Media Awards from the Pennsylvania News Media Association. The winning entries submitted by three faculty members and one recent graduate won first place in two categories and second place in two categories. Winners will be honored at the Keystone Media Awards Luncheon on Thursday, Oct. 16, in Harrisburg.