At the Franco Harris Pittsburgh Center at Penn State, we create opportunities for mutually beneficial campus to community connections. By providing a bridge between the Pittsburgh region and Penn State’s extensive resources — including students, faculty, staff, and programs — we work to address local issues and support sustainable neighborhoods and communities while supporting student success.
The Franco Harris Pittsburgh Center connects faculty and students with meaningful research and engagement projects that address local challenges in Pittsburgh’s urban setting. By fostering collaboration across community sectors and Penn State academic units, the Center helps apply research and engagement to real-world issues, enriching the lives of residents while providing students with unique learning opportunities unavailable at most Penn State campuses. The Center exemplifies Penn State’s land-grant mission by using research to solve community problems and enhance the Pittsburgh region.
Faculty can engage with the Center in two primary ways:
- One approach involves faculty-led research projects or proposals that benefit from working in Pittsburgh, where the Center coordinates with local partners to implement the research and projects.
- Alternatively, the Center responds to community requests for help with specific issues, reaching out to Penn State faculty to explore how their expertise might address those needs.
The Center’s deep knowledge of the Pittsburgh region and its relationships with local organizations are crucial in connecting faculty to these urban research opportunities.
Learn More About Our Recent Research Engagement
CIVIC NSF Grant: Enhancing Geohazard Prediction in Pittsburgh
The Franco Harris Pittsburgh Center, in collaboration with Penn State faculty and local community leaders, is pioneering innovative approaches to geohazard prediction through the NSF-funded CIVIC project. This initiative harnesses existing fiber optic cables to detect and forecast dangerous geohazards such as flooding, landslides, and sinkholes across Pittsburgh’s diverse geological landscape.
Under the guidance of Tieyuan Zhu, associate professor in Penn State’s Department of Geosciences, the project initially piloted at Penn State’s University Park campus before scaling up to Pittsburgh. Zhu highlights Pittsburgh’s suitability as a testing ground due to its complex geology and history of geohazard occurrences.
The Center plays a crucial role by integrating geospatial analysis with community input, identifying high-impact research corridors and fostering collaborations with local residents and municipalities.
Community Change Grant from the EPA: Advancing Urban Forestry and Environmental Justice
The Franco Harris Pittsburgh Center is proud to collaborate with community partner Landforce on a transformative project proposal that was selected for a Community Change grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This initiative focuses on expanding workforce programs in urban forestry and wood waste reduction, while enhancing tree canopy growth in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. The project also includes innovative biochar applications to reduce lead pollution in Pittsburgh soils.
This $14 million project is co-led with PowerCorpsPHL in Philadelphia and Landforce in Pittsburgh with support from our Center, Grounded Strategies, and Allegheny County Conservation District.
Penn State IEE Seed Grant: Advancing Urban Forest Research in Pittsburgh
Led by Travis Flohr, assistant professor of landscape architecture in Penn State’s Stuckeman School, an interdisciplinary team has secured a Penn State Institutes of Energy and the Environment (IEE) Seed Grant to study urban forests in Pittsburgh. The Franco Harris Pittsburgh Center facilitates this research by connecting the academic team with local stakeholders and decision-makers, ensuring the study’s relevance and impact in the pilot city.
Working with the Penn State students was a great experience. The students were motivated and conducted themselves in a professional manner, assessing a range of options and presenting viable recommendations for all parties involved to consider.
Engaged Scholarship is out-of-classroom, real-world learning, projects, and research that students undertake, often in service of their local community, and it is the focus of many of our programs at the Franco Harris Pittsburgh Center. Through our engaged scholarship work, we cultivate vibrant, mutually beneficial relationships between faculty, staff, students, and the Pittsburgh region.
Programs
Our programs offer networking experience, internship opportunities, and hands-on learning for Penn State students of all majors and backgrounds.
Studios
We collaborate with the Penn State College of Arts and Architecture for several Pittsburgh-based architecture and landscape architecture studios, vetting potential projects, securing community stakeholders, coordinating community engagement processes, and sharing information with the student teams, local participants, and broader audiences.
Penn State professor Ken Tamminga leads teams of fourth-year landscape architecture students in the Pittsburgh Studio (LARCH 414). Students in the course, with support of Franco Harris Pittsburgh Center staff, work with community stakeholders in local neighborhoods to address their place-based issues.
Student Class and Club Visits
Many Penn State groups and classes travel to Pittsburgh to visit the Center, where they engage with local professionals and practitioners in their field (many of whom are Penn State alumni). Students connect with potential employers and mentors for experiences and advice.
Capstone Projects and Course Assistance
We connect local community stakeholder needs with Penn State faculty-lead teams of students for collaborative opportunities to address specific needs in the Pittsburgh region. This can be initiated by the Franco Harris Pittsburgh Center receiving requests from faculty or a local community partner seeking assistance on a specific issue or challenge.
The [Franco Harris Pittsburgh] Center was integral in helping to connect our newly forming organization to Penn State’s Learning Factory capstone project, which provided us with a high-caliber student team. The students built a dynamic website and developed online tools to help nonprofits and small businesses go solar.
The Center partners with many local organizations and institutions to offer community engagement and continuing education opportunities. These initiatives include place-based workshops to promote best practices and positive community impact. We also hold a variety of noncredit training programs, including workshops, seminars, tours, and special presentations.
National Green Infrastructure Certification Program (NGICP)
NGICP is a 35-hour program taught by the Center to educate local practitioners on the ecological and economic benefits and challenges of installing and maintaining successful green infrastructure in the region. The course is open to all industry professionals looking to learn more about green infrastructure in Pittsburgh.
Special Events
We often help to plan and host special events at the Center, films, exhibits, networking, and tours. In the past, we have hosted: WPSU film screenings and panel discussions for films Managing Risk in a Changing Climate and Water Blues Green Solutions; the Poetry in Diversity art exhibit (with Pittsburgh-Mantazas Sister Cities); the SPACE Gallery (Penn State pop-up exhibit); and the Pittsburgh East End Solar Tour on Bicycle (with PEC’s Pittsburgh Solar Tour)
Support the Franco Harris Pittsburgh Center
Support from community partners comes in many forms. Funding contributions are used to support the Center’s activities and students through fellowships, grants, and stipends.