Penn State's newly appointed dean of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences said yesterday that he wants to pay special attention to hot topics such as energy use and climate change in the coming years.

William Easterling appointment as dean of the college was announced Tuesday, replacing interim dean Rob Crane, who has served as dean since Aug. 1, 2006.

Easterling's appointment is pending approval by the Board of Trustees at its May 18 meeting. If approved, he would assume the position July 1.

Easterling, who just returned from an international conference on climate change in Brussels, Belgium, is the current director of Penn State's Institutes of Energy and the Environment and a professor of geography and earth system sciences.

"The fact that he has a background at Penn State is going to mean that he'll be able to get down to work pretty quickly," Penn State spokesman Bill Mahon said.

Easterling has also held positions at the Washington, D.C., think tank, Resources for the Future and was the interim director of the National Institute for Global Environmental Change for the U.S. Department of Energy.

Easterling said that he has plans to continue the college's success while helping it grow in critical areas such as energy science and engineering.

"In my view, meeting the energy needs of the nation, if not the world, is one of the great challenges of the 21st century," he said.

Easterling said he also wants to secure the resources and equipment for a new materials science and engineering building.

"That department has the opportunity to be in one place," he said. "That building will have state-of-the-art equipment and layout with which to attract the best and brightest students and to produce ... materials with novel properties that meet the needs of society."

The funding for the new building and for a significant fraction of the department's expenses has already been allocated, but there is currently not enough for the entire department.

"The ideal would be getting the resources committed to allow the entire department to move over lock, stock and barrel," Easterling said.

"The reality is that we may not get the resources and, therefore, we'll have to do it as a phased move. If that's the case, the goal will be to get everybody there as quickly as possible."

Although Easterling said he plans to continue fully funding other areas in the college, he said energy use and climate change are hot topics.

"I think the students are starting to get very concerned," he said, "and at the same time quite interested in energy as a topic for courses and careers."