PSU to start natural gas education, research center

Penn State will create the Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research, an education and research center to focus on the growing natural gas industry.

School President Graham Spanier said Wednesday that along with having the faculty who were the first to call attention to the Marcellus Shale natural gas reserve, Penn State has 500 faculty and researchers who do work related to energy and the environment.

Michael Arthur, professor of geosciences in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, and Tom Murphy, Cooperative Extension educator, will be co-directors of the new center. A hydrogeologist has been hired to handle outreach related to water availability and protection.

Spanier said the center does not yet have outside funding, but the university hopes to get financial support from the state and the industry.

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