Penn State Behrend will operate a new, expanded Erie Planetarium, which will be located in the School of Science complex. The system, which includes a projector and a 30-foot fiberglass dome, will be moved from the Watson-Curtze property on West Sixth Street, where it has operated since 1959, sometime in the first half of 2014.
The planetarium’s current director, Jim Gavio, will continue to develop astronomy programs for the system. He will be a Penn State employee.
The poet and essayist Lia Purpura will help lead the second “Earth’s Eye: A Festival of Writing in and of the Natural World” at Presque Isle State Park on Sept. 7. She will discuss, among other things, how to use details to improve a story – a skill she honed while hunting for beach glass.