Snapshot Day brings Pennsylvania water quality into focus

By Matt Carroll

SHEFFIELD, Pa. — Bill Eckert slipped into his hip waders and splashed through the small stream near his cabin in the Allegheny National Forest.

He didn’t bring his fishing pole this time. Instead, Eckert bent down and let the cold water fill the assorted bottles he carried.

Eckert was among a few dozen volunteers collecting water samples that could help researchers develop a clearer picture of water quality in Pennsylvania.

TeenShale Network gears up for another year

Local high school students stepped back into their hip waders and ventured into the cool, rushing water of Black Moshannon Creek this week.

The students are part of TeenShale Network, an ongoing water quality monitoring run by Penn State's Earth and Environmental Systems Institute.

TeenShale gives State College Area School District students a chance to learn real science alongside professionals. Their work collecting samples also leads to better baseline data about the state's waterways.

2017 Shale Network workshop brings diverse group together for water quality discussions

The Shale Network held its sixth annual workshop May 18 and 19 at the Penn State University Park Campus, and in State College, Pa. The workshop again drew a large, diverse group of participants interested in water quality around the Marcellus Shale drilling region in Pennsylvania.

Representatives from academia, government agencies, energy industries, environmental groups joined citizen scientists and high school students and teachers during the two-day event.

Shale Network Workshop: Call for Abstracts

Sharing Data about Shale Gas Development: From Drilling to Disposal

A Workshop Held by the Shale Network Team in State College, PA

Abstracts are solicited for presentations at the 6th Annual Shale Network Workshop to be held in University Park, PA on May 18 and 19, 2017. Deadline for abstracts is April 14, 2017.

View full details about the workshop at:
http://www.shalenetwork.org/content/2017-shale-network-workshop

Big data approach to water quality applied at shale drilling sites

By Matthew Carroll

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A computer program is diving deep into water quality data from Pennsylvania, helping scientists detect potential environmental impacts of Marcellus Shale gas drilling.

The work, supported by a new $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation, pairs a cross-disciplinary team of Penn State computer scientists and geoscientists studying methane concentrations in the state's streams, rivers and private water wells.

Conference takes aim at state’s orphan well problem

More than 150 years after the first commercial oil well was drilled in Pennsylvania, decades of energy exploration have resulted in hundreds of thousands of abandoned, lost and forgotten oil and gas wells scattered across the state.

Researchers at Penn State are among a number of organizations in Pennsylvania working to locate and assess these so called orphaned and abandoned wells, which if not properly plugged, or if damaged over time, can potentially cause air and water pollution.

State College high school students testing the waters at Black Mo

If anything happens to the water in Black Moshannon Creek, a group of State College Area School District earth science students might just be the first to know.

The teens, mostly from State High but with a few advanced eighth-graders thrown in, have been monitoring the watershed this year in partnership with researchers from Penn State’s Earth and Environmental Systems Institute.

The project, called TeenShale Network, gives students a chance to learn science exists outside of their textbooks and classrooms, and that their work can make a difference in the real world.

2016 Shale Network Workshop

The fifth annual Shale Network workshop took place May 19 and 20, drawing a large, diverse group including government workers, industry representatives, environmental group members, students and academics. About 97 people attended all or parts of the workshop, including a field trip, poster session, computer module and daylong session of presentations and discussions. 

TeenShale Network returns to the field for another year

A group of local high school students are slipping into their hipwaders and wading back into the TeenShale Network. 

With the school year back in full swing, students at State College High School have resumed work on the project, which pairs the youngsters with Penn State researchers to monitor water quality in Black Moshannon Creek.

This year, 28 students are taking part in TeenShale network, ranging from 8th to 11th grade. They will build on work the returning students have done the past three years, and search for their own hypotheses in their data. 

Shale Network database can now be cited using DOI

The Shale Network datasets now have a DOI, or Digital Object Identifier, that can be used when citing the data in publications.

To access the datasets through a DOI, visit a DOI resolver, like the one found at www.crossref.org/05researchers/58doi_resolver.html, and enter 10.4211/his-data-shalenetwork

To database should be cited as: ShaleNetwork Database. DOI: 10.4211/his-data-shalenetwork