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Geomimicry offers a new framework for engineering sustainable materials
A hand holding soil.

Penn Engineers are exploring whether the same principles that are used to design new materials could explain how natural soils acquire their remarkable properties. 

(Image: Courtesy of Penn Engineering)

Geomimicry offers a new framework for engineering sustainable materials

In a new paper, Penn Engineers introduce geomimicry, a framework that explores whether the way soils, sediments, and other Earth-mediated substances behave—rather than what they are made of—may be useful for building sustainable materials.

2 min. read

Summer storms
Summer storms

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Summer storms

A roundup of stories from Penn Today on water quality, AI and sustainability, clean fuel production, and managing stormwater runoff.

Penn Today Staff

2 min. read

Buildings that cool like African elephants
A tabletop display of off-white tiles in the foreground. Dorit Aviv and Shu Yang are standing behind it.

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Buildings that cool like African elephants

Inspired by the cracked, water-trapping skin of elephants, Penn researchers have developed a low-cost cement tile that cools buildings by capturing and slowly evaporating water—turning a structural flaw into a climate solution.

3 min. read

Soaking up the sun
Soaking up the sun

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Soaking up the sun

A roundup of stories from Penn Today on solar innovation and protection.

Penn Today Staff

2 min. read

The impact of microplastics—and how to limit exposure
Derek Ho in the lab pointing to a beaker of water in front of two lab techs.

To better visualize microplastics, researchers in the McBride Lab at Penn Engineering use fluorescent dyes like Nile Red, which attach to plastics and make them glow under specific light. Environmental researcher Derek Ho developed a system used in their lab called the Fluorescent Imaging Microplastic Analysis Platform, or FIMAP. It uses machine learning to detect and identify plastic particles larger than about 20 microns in complex water samples.

(Image: Sylvia Zhang)

The impact of microplastics—and how to limit exposure

Microplastics researchers Samantha McBride and Derek Ho of Penn Engineering and Vijay Bhatia of the Philadelphia Water Department discuss how microplastics get into ecosystems and human bodies, offering practical ways to minimize exposure.

3 min. read

At the intersection of energy and agriculture
Students walking along the Donga boardwalk in Kisumu.

As part of a 2024 landscape architecture studio at Weitzman, students traveled to Kisumu and visited the Donga boardwalk and overlook with students from the University of Maseno and Great Lakes University of Kisumu.

(Image: Courtesy of Weitzman News)

At the intersection of energy and agriculture

Through the Goldsmith Sustainable Agriculture Fund at the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, Penn researchers are responding to a significant science-to-policy gap.

From the Weitzman School of Design

2 min. read

Green infrastructure
Green infrastructure

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Green infrastructure

A roundup of Penn Today stories focusing on green infrastructure on campus, in research, in higher education, and in energy policy.

Penn Today Staff

2 min. read

2026 PPA renewable energy research projects

2026 PPA renewable energy research projects

As part of Penn’s Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with AES Clean Energy, four new research have been announced with funding from the PPA Renewable Energy Research Program for 2026.