Resilient Futures Podcast
Resilient Futures is a monthly podcast on all things resilience! The show examines this topic by discussing ongoing research, highlighting current efforts, and sharing stories of resilience in diverse contexts across the world! By exploring a wide variety of perspectives, the show digs deep into understanding the many dimensions of resilience. New episodes will be released at the start of every month. If you have questions about things we've discussed or have suggestions for future episodes, please e-mail us at futurecitiespodcast@gmail.com or send us a message on Twitter @RFuturesPod. (This podcast was previously named Future Cities.)
Resilient Futures Podcast
The Resilient Future of Solar Power
Lauren McPhillips didn't always dream of being a professor, but she knew she loved solving problems.
After earning three degrees in Earth systems science and environmental engineering at Cornell University, McPhillips completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at Arizona State University, where she met our host Alysha. Now, she's working on ecological and water resources engineering problems from green stormwater infrastructure to solar implementation. In her position as a researcher and assistant professor at Penn State's Institute for Energy & the Environment, she studies how best to implement solar power across ecosystems while preserving ecosystem services in proposed solar fields.
Solar farms get a lot of pushback due to their potential to interrupt ecosystems, whether they're just taking up important habitat space or actually causing harm through increased erosion or stormwater runoff. But McPhillips argues that, when done carefully, solar power could be just the nature-positive energy solution we need.
Lauren's Haiku:
Solar energy
Can keep nature's benefits
Could be a win-win
Guest Bio: https://iee.psu.edu/people/lauren-mcphillips
McPhillips' Lab Website: https://sites.psu.edu/lmcphillips/