Latest News
Natural-gas development appears to be having a positive effect on the local collection of state taxes in Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale region, according to a report by researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. "Marcellus Shale and Local Collection of State Taxes: What the 2011 Pennsylvania Tax Data Say" is a white paper published by the Penn State Center for Economic and Community Development.
A Penn State researcher has been chosen to receive a grant through the Grand Challenges Explorations program, an initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. David Hughes, assistant professor of entomology and biology, will pursue an innovative global health and development research project, titled "Taking Out the Bodyguards: A Novel Solution to Ag Disease." Hughes' project aims to reduce the incidenece of plant diseases - and consequently crop losses - by reducing the population of ants that act as protectors for various crop pests.
A parasite that fights the zombie-ant fungus has yielded some of its secrets to an international research team led by Penn State's David Hughes. The research reveals, for the first time, how an entire ant colony is able to survive infestations by the zombie-ant fungus, which invades an ant's brain and causes it to march to its death at a mass grave near the ant colony, where the fungus spores erupt out of the ant's head. "In a case where biology is stranger than fiction, the parasite of the zombie-ant fungus is itself a fungus -- a hyperparasitic fungus that specializes in attacking the parasite that turns the ants into zombies," Hughes said.
Congratulations to Dr. Carlson for the Alex and Jessie Black Award for Excellence in Research
Dr. Isard has been awarded the International IPM Award of Excellence at the 7th International IPM Symposium held March 27-29 in Memphis, TN.
A researcher in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences recently won second place in this year's competition for the Wood Award, sponsored by the Forest Products Society.
A process that spins starch into fine strands could take the sting out of removing bandages, as well as produce less expensive and more environmentally-friendly toilet paper, napkins and other products, according to Penn State food scientists.
Beef consumers should not overreact to the first case of so-called "mad cow disease" in the United States since 2006, discovered recently in a dairy cow in California, according to a veterinarian in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.
As the Marcellus natural-gas play unfolds in Pennsylvania, several trends are becoming increasingly clear, according to researchers at Penn State. First, most of the development is occurring on private land, and the greatest amount of development falls within the Susquehanna River basin. Second, a regional approach to siting drilling infrastructure is needed to help minimize development in core forest and productive agricultural lands and to decrease the potential risk to waterways.
It's getting tougher all the time to be a farmer, and managers of small agricultural operations have to be increasingly efficient, clever and resourceful just to stay profitable. But "agritainment" may help farmers improve their bottom liines, according to agricultural business experts in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.
A team composed primarily of Penn State faculty and staff members has won a national award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for a project that began as an effort to locate and document the body of research undergirding the 4-H youth development program. Led by Jan Scholl, associate professor of agricultural and extension education in the College of Agricultural Sciences, the team received the Partnership Award for Effective and Efficient Use of Resources from USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
A forest products researcher in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences is playing a role in a national effort to gauge the viability of wood and wood waste as feedstocks for jet fuels and other high-value co-products. As part of a multi-institutional consortium, Paul Smith, professor of forest products marketing at Penn State, will lead a group that will quantify environmental and social values and determine how those values influence purchasing decisions for biofuel-based products. "This is an exciting opportunity to work with a world-class team of industrial, academic and government researchers to address one of society's most pressing challenges," said Smith, who before coming to Penn State worked for five years as an industrial forester in Colorado and Montana, and for two years as operations manager for a wood products export-trading company in the Pacific Northwest.
The extreme climatic conditions Pennsylvania experiened in 2011 may not cause less brilliant foliage this autumn, according to a forest expert in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. Ironically, the display may be limited by tamer weather that is occurring right now. "It's true 2011 has been an extraordinary year for climate -- going from one extreme to another," said Marc Abrams, professor of forest ecology and physiology. "Some counties in the eastern part of the state are now 1 to 2 feet above their average precipitation. An eastern Pennsylvania also suffered the impacts of strong winds from Hurricane Irene. But despite all these extremes, I am still somewhat optimistic about a good display of fall leaf colors this year, because most trees are in good physiological condition going into October, due to late-summer rains."
Of the 3.3 million U.S. farm operators counted in the 2007 Census of Agriculture, about 30 percent, or more than 1 million, were women. Responding to a critical need for education specifically designed to help women manage business risks and enhance the financial viability of their agricultural operations, Penn State Extension will offer a workshop series to be held at six locations across Pennsylvania.
A science- and energy-based program focusing on Pennsylvania counties with natural gas exploration and production, and developed by a multidisciplinary team of Penn State researchers, is part of a $2.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Sridhar Komarneni, distinguished professor of clay mineralogy, has been chosen to receive the Marilyn and Sturges W. Bailey Distinguished Member Award from the Clay Minerals Society.
Choosing which college to attend can be a difficult decision for high school students, but Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences is trying to make it a little easier with its Open House and High School Senior Day, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday Oct. 10, at the University Park campus.
A series of Web-based seminars aimed at helping local businesses prosper from natural-gas drilling and development will be offered this fall by Penn State Extension's Marcellus Educational Consortium.
Penn State's 2011 Ag Progress Days highlighted many of the latest advances in agricultural and natural sciences. The three-day event provided visitors a wide range of exhibits and demonstrations while also offering some fun activities.
Dr. Karen Racicot won the trainee platform oral presentation competition, Xi Tian was selected for presenting one of the top six posters at the meeting, and Xi along with postdoctoral fellow Dr. Samar Maalouf received the USDA-NIFA Merit Awards for their abstracts.
