Latest News

September 19, 2022

Funding of up to $25 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will support a new Penn State-led collaboration with dairy industry associations and producers to develop and implement climate-smart practices on Pennsylvania dairy farms. The project is aimed at generating climate commodities that add value to dairy products along the supply chain and leveraging agriculture’s potential to provide solutions to climate change.

September 19, 2022

Penn State was named a collaborating institution in a $66 million dollar U.S. Department of Energy Urban Integrated Field (Urban IFL) program designed to study the impacts of climate change on American cities. 

September 16, 2022

A $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will enable a team of researchers — led by Penn State entomologists — to assess foraging patterns of honey bees on organic farms, with an eye toward creating opportunities for beekeepers to produce certified-organic apiary products.

September 15, 2022

Penn State’s “Stories from the Field” conversation series is returning this fall with three new sessions. Each was designed to bring together academics and practitioners to discuss the challenges and opportunities of applied research and community engagement.

September 14, 2022

Scientists have long known that no-till farming reduces erosion and lessens water and nutrient runoff from crop fields, but now a new study by a team of Penn State researchers suggests that limiting soil disturbance may also diminish releases of nitrous oxide.

September 14, 2022

A Penn State animal scientist has received a four-year, $650,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to study the regulation of fatty acid metabolism in dairy cows with the goal of boosting revenues and efficiency on farms by increasing milk fat and optimizing use of dietary fat in cow rations.

September 13, 2022

Penn State researchers will study the monkeypox virus to understand the potential for it to spill over from humans to animals, as its pathogenesis — or disease development — in animal and human cells in vitro. In addition, they will study potential targets for therapeutics to treat the monkeypox disease.

September 13, 2022

Most viral infections negatively affect an organism’s health, but one plant virus in particular — soybean vein necrosis orthotospovirus, often referred to as SVNV — may actually benefit a type of insect that commonly feeds on soybean plants and can transmit the virus to the plant, causing disease, according to Penn State research.

September 13, 2022

The first-ever round of Interdisciplinary Innovation Fellowships will support the work of Microbiome Center members and allow them to acquire knowledge and techniques to then share with other University colleagues.

September 8, 2022

Certain drugs used to treat COVID-19 patients — including remdesivir, dexamethasone and antibiotics for associated bacterial infections — persist through wastewater treatment and may occur in waterways at levels high enough to negatively affect aquatic organisms, according to a new study led by researchers at Penn State. The findings highlight the broad utility of wastewater surveillance as a tool for monitoring the effects of human health on water quality and ecosystem health.

September 7, 2022

Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus has installed a weather station on campus as part of the Pennsylvania Environmental Monitoring Network, which includes 20 similar systems across the commonwealth. The project, which began development in 2017, is funded by the Penn State Office of the Vice President for Research, the Institutes of Energy and the Environment, and the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences.

September 7, 2022

Supplementing the feed of dairy cattle with enzymes from two funguses simultaneously has a positive effect on the animals’ lactational performance, according to Penn State researchers, who studied the concept in an experiment with cows.

September 6, 2022

The COVID‐19 pandemic affected American households in countless ways, but according to researchers, some of the most tangible shifts are taking place in the food system.

September 2, 2022

The primary goal of Penn State’s Metabolomics Core Facility, established a decade ago and housed in the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, is to identify and quantify the small molecules (or metabolites) in plant and animal biofluids, cells and tissues.

September 2, 2022

A team of researchers is investigating a government policy that increases solar-powered irrigation pumps in India and how the use of solar irrigation pumps may impact India’s highly exploited groundwater reserves and the country’s food and energy production.

September 1, 2022

A backyard discovery by 8-year-old Hugo Deans, son of Penn State Professor of Entomology Andrew Deans, eventually led to the revelation that oak galls — plant growth triggered by insects — are part of an elaborate relationship among ants, wasps and oak trees, turning a century of knowledge about plant-insect interactions on its head.

August 29, 2022

Over a six-year period in southcentral Pennsylvania, measures of biodiversity among wild bee communities declined and one-third of species experienced decreases in abundance, according to a Penn State-led team of researchers.

August 24, 2022

Military service members who experienced adversity or trauma during childhood, combined with exposure to warfare, including as participants in the military or as bystanders, are more likely than others to experience Military Sexual Trauma during their service, according to new research led by Penn State.

August 23, 2022

Flavonoids produced by sorghum leaves have shown promising results in combating fall armyworm larvae. When sprayed on the leaves of corn, sorghum flavonoids stunt the growth of fall armyworm and often kill the pest, Penn State researchers report in a new study.

August 22, 2022

Labels alerting customers that products contain ingredients from genetically engineered plants may reduce sales, at least in the short term, according to a new study from a research team including an agricultural economist in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences.

August 19, 2022

More than 10,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported in the United States since May, triggering the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to declare the outbreak a public-health emergency. As the fall semester begins, many are wondering if they should be concerned about monkeypox. Suresh Kuchipudi, the Huck Chair in Emerging Infectious Diseases at Penn State and an expert on emerging and zoonotic viruses, explains what is known about monkeypox and how to protect yourself.

August 18, 2022

A research team led by a Penn State plant scientist has received a $650,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to study the functions of key plant genes responsible for regulating the acquisition and use of nitrogen and phosphorus in corn hybrids.

August 18, 2022

Penn State chemical engineering researchers used micro- and nanoparticles created from organic materials like corncobs and tomato peels to capture rare earth elements from aqueous solutions.

August 16, 2022

When plants sense environmental challenges such as drought or extended periods of extreme temperatures, they instinctively reprogram their genetic material to survive and even thrive. The chemical code that triggers those changes can be deciphered and then duplicated to breed more vigorous, productive and resilient crops. That’s the conclusion of a team of Penn State molecular plant geneticists that conducted the first-ever study of those reprogramming effects and discovered that “epigenetic reprogramming” code, which results in the expressing and over expressing of some genes and the silencing of others.

August 16, 2022

A light-based food sanitization technique successfully eliminated multiple harmful pathogens in a new study carried out by Penn State researchers.

August 15, 2022

Interested in exploring new fishing, boating or hiking spots? Curious about how water connects throughout the state? A map featuring Pennsylvania’s 86,000 stream miles is available from Penn State Extension.

July 29, 2022

Four summer research programs that task undergraduate students with exploring pressing research related to climate science and solutions are culminating in a combined event that is open to the public. These Penn State programs are hosting their final symposium Thursday, Aug. 4, in the Steidle Building Atrium on the University Park campus.

July 29, 2022

Climate-smart agriculture, animal health issues such as avian influenza, vector-borne diseases and the spread of the spotted lanternfly will be the focus of displays and presentations at the College of Agricultural Sciences Exhibits Building and Theater during Penn State's Ag Progress Days, Aug. 9-11.

July 29, 2022

A team of Penn State researchers has received a $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation to lead a three-institution team developing the “SustainFood Network,” which will link scientists, communities and policymakers in addressing challenges at the nexus of water, energy and food security in Africa.

July 27, 2022

A researcher in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences has received a $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation to lead a three-institution team developing the “Sustainfood Network,” which links scientists, communities and policymakers to address challenges in Africa at the nexus of water, energy and food security.