One idea to build a vertical farming project led to an Ag Springboard team. Then a win. Then a company. GreenTowers' co-founders share how they unleashed their creativity and momentum.
Two recent graduates pitching hemp fiber row covers for crops won $7,500 in the College of Agricultural Sciences’ 2021 Ag Springboard student business pitch contest. Two graduate students won second place and $2,500 for their pitch to produce a compost fertilizer made from biogas co-products.
A new technology to grow cultured meat, dairy and egg products from animal cells or genetically modified yeast can either speed socioeconomic inequality or provide a good alternative to existing meat and dairy options, according to Penn State researchers.
Several undergraduates in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences are helping to move research from the lab to the marketplace thanks to a unique opportunity offered through the college’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation program.
As doctoral students in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, Wei-Shu Lin and Parisa Nazemi Ashani are dedicating their academic studies and future careers to improving ecosystems, including the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the United States.
CEO of Unbaked Flour, 2022 Ag Springboard winner, inspiration came from her own health journey.
Soil sciences and biogeochemistry doctoral candidate Zoelie Rivera-Ocasio has launched her startup, Zoils & Pigments, which manufactures soil-based paints such as watercolors, gouache and crayons, using natural and environmentally conscious ingredients for artists and children.
Jonathan Lynch, distinguished professor of plant nutrition, is the 2023 recipient of the Research Innovator of the Year Award, presented by Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences to recognize faculty and staff who have made notable efforts to commercialize their Penn State research.
Two Penn State student teams took home cash prizes from the 2023 Ag Springboard student business pitch contest held during the spring semester.
Faculty from five departments in College of Ag Sciences and the Department of Biology in the Eberly College of Science to take part in mentoring cohort
Chad Dechow, associate professor of dairy cattle genetics, is the 2024 recipient of the Research Innovator of the Year Award, given by Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences to recognize faculty and staff who have made notable efforts to commercialize their Penn State research.
The Himalayan ShePower project, created by graduate students in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, is designed to help smallholder farmers in Nepal earn extra income by producing paper from rhino waste.
Students Kanika Gupta and Kartikey Pandey, both computer science majors, and Samuel DeLozier, an agribusiness management major, were awarded first place at the 2024 Ag Springboard student business pitch contest for their pitch, CropNSoil, a platform to support international multicropping.
The innovation lab — which will serve the U.S. and other portions of North America — will build youth leaders in food security and climate solutions
Raymond Yan, a student in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, represented the University at the January 2025 Farm Foundation Round Table in North Carolina.
An agribusiness management class recently spent a session rolling dice, gathering and trading agricultural resources, gaining allies, and building roads and settlements through the cult classic board game CATAN, where players compete to build a civilization on a fictional island.
Students Jonathan Rabinovich and Axel Saavedra won first place in the 2025 Ag Springboard student business pitch contest for their project Spiky Farms, which focuses on sea urchin ranching.
Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences was represented on the global stage as faculty and students participated in the United Nations' 10th Multi-stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals, held at U.N. headquarters in New York City earlier this month.
Maria Spencer leads Penn State’s new World Food Forum Youth Lab.
David Huff leveraged Penn State’s entrepreneurial ecosystem to launch PennPoa and transform the golf course turfgrass industry
Penn State Extension recently was awarded a competitive national grant to build a microcredentialing system aimed at strengthening the agricultural workforce and formally recognizing job-ready skills.
Powered by PlantVillage, Tilva provides free, 24/7, Pennsylvania-specific support for farmers, industry professionals, educators and others.
Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences celebrated the Class of 2026 with a commencement address emphasizing resilience, mentorship, service, and creating a lasting impact.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations delegation visit highlights collaboration, innovation and student engagement.
Scientists in the College of Ag Sciences will examine the movement and impacts of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in agricultural watersheds.
Jessica Padula, David Flores, Andrew Minton and Griffin White were the team behind Kumbu Connect. They took home first prize at this year's competition and received $7,500. Kumbu Connect is a digital platform that strengthens agricultural community-based organizations across sub-Saharan Africa by simplifying the process of connecting with grant-giving institutions.
Research suggests active ingredient in fertilizer RhizoSorb can bind with phosphorus in poultry manure applications, significantly reducing nutrient pollution.
Wendy Clemens has been named the Alan R. Warehime Faculty Chair in Agribusiness in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, effective April 1. She will serve as director of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program in the college.
As fuel and diesel prices rise, an educator with Penn State Extension offers practical tips to help save farmers money.
Three Penn State students, including two from the College of Agricultural Sciences and one from the Smeal College of Business, recently spoke about their global food security projects at a special meeting of the United Nations’ Economic and Social Council.
As climate change accelerates and threats from pests and diseases intensify, a growing cohort of Penn State researchers is developing innovative solutions to help crops not only survive but also thrive.
Environmental scientists and water resource managers need precise, high-resolution maps to reveal areas that farmers should avoid when planting crops, to limit polluting waters with phosphorus from fertilizer or manure. Making those maps has depended on an expensive, sometimes unavailable technology, but a team led by Penn State researchers has developed a cheaper approach that can be just as effective.
Sarah Kirkmeyer, Penn State affiliate and adjunct researcher of food science and senior manager of user research and service design at the Kroger Company, has been elected a fellow of the Institute of Food Technologists.
Quinn Burnett, a fourth-year food science student in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, was recognized for her research on how sourdough starter microbiomes affect the digestibility of breads at the IPA World Congress + Probiota 2026 conference.
Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, through its Institute for Sustainable Agricultural, Food and Environmental Science, known as SAFES, recently announced its latest awards to accelerate the advancement of its Critical Issues Initiatives.
Professionals working in agricultural conservation can pursue professional development opportunities by attending the ACAP Ag Conservation Con, to be held Sept. 15-17 at the Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex, 711 Pratt Drive, Indiana. Event organizers anticipate more than 200 conservation professionals from around the state will attend the third annual conference.
Jashvinu Yeshwanth Raj, an MBA student in the Penn State Smeal College of Business, recently spoke at the UN Technology Science Innovation Forum in New York City about his startup company, wrkFarm.
Penn State’s Ag Progress Days welcomes families and kids of all ages to Pennsylvania’s largest outdoor agricultural exposition. Organizers of the 4-H and Youth Building have a variety of activities planned for its youngest attendees during all three days of the expo, Aug. 11-13, at the Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center at Rock Springs.
Plants have always played an integral role in traditional medicine and healing practices. In this Q&A, Kent Vrana, Elliot S. Vesell Professor of Pharmacology and director of the Center for Cannabis and Natural Product Pharmaceutics at Penn State College of Medicine, discussed the relationship is between plant science and human health and the growing role of plant-derived solutions in medicine.
Penn State Extension recently was lauded by the Association of Natural Resource Extension Professionals for a publication on conservation funding for farmers and conservation professionals.
Some corn plants are genetically predisposed to develop longer, less constricted water-conducting tissues and deeper roots, which helps them deal with drought. That’s the conclusion of a team led by Penn State researchers that conducted a study of the plant’s xylem tissue that moves water upward from the roots out to the leaves.
