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Phi Beta Kappa Scholar to Present Environmental Lecture

Elmira, NY (10/01/2019) — Phi Beta Kappa Carl F. Cranor Visiting Scholar, Dr. Richard Alley, will present a lecture highlighting energy uses and the effects they have on the environment onThursday, October 17, 2019, at 4:00 P.M. in Kolker Lecture Hall. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Named an Evan Pugh Professor, Alley teaches within the geosciences department at Penn State University, often studying the great ice sheets to help predict future changes in climate and sea level. His extensive research has included multiple trips to Antarctica, Greenland, and Alaska.

"We get great benefits from the energy we use, now mostly from fossil fuels, but the resulting pollution threatens to cause highly damaging climate changes," said Alley. "Today's students belong to the first generation in human history with confidence that they can build a sustainable energy system, providing the power we enjoy to everyone everywhere."

Alley has been honored for research (including election to the US National Academy of Sciences and Foreign Membership in the Royal Society), teaching, and service.

He has participated in the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize), and has provided requested advice to

numerous government officials in multiple administrations. He has authored or co-authored over 300 refereed scientific papers and was the presenter for the PBS television miniseries on climate and energy, "Earth: The Operators' Manual," and author of the book. His popular account of climate change and ice cores, "The Two-Mile Time Machine," won the Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science.

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