Latest News

May 30, 2023

Three global education leaders in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences have contributed their expertise to a new book. The trio wrote a chapter in “Sustainable Education Abroad, Striving for Change,” which is part of a book series spearheaded by the national nonprofit, Forum on Education Abroad.

May 23, 2023

A group of Penn State undergraduate students recently traveled to the nation’s capital to meet with governmental and nonprofit leaders in the international agricultural sector. The visit was an opportunity to learn about current issues from those actively working in the industry.

May 19, 2023

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is awarding a $4.96 million grant to Penn State's PlantVillage to help increase food production for smallholder farmers who face pests and disease of their crops across sub-Saharan Africa. The research project, called Delphi, will create a modeling platform that can be used by researchers globally to improve the speed and accuracy of efforts to identify emerging threats.

April 25, 2023

Penn State student Julia Burton, in the College of Agricultural Sciences, is among the first Peace Corps volunteers to return to overseas service since the agency’s unprecedented global evacuation in March 2020.

April 25, 2023

Nutrition labels can help guide consumers toward making healthier food choices, but new research suggests that a lack of knowledge about how to use them may be contributing to nutrition gaps between people in urban and rural China.

April 10, 2023

Penn State Global has announced the 2022-23 recipients of its annual awards that recognize the outstanding contributions of individuals and academic programs at Penn State who have helped to advance the University’s global engagement goals. Six out of the ten awards presented were awarded to members of the College of Agricultural Sciences.

April 3, 2023

First-generation college students at Penn State traveled to Costa Rica as part of an embedded course, ERM 499: Costa Rica Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resources.

March 28, 2023

Emma Luksic, a fourth-year biological engineering major with a minor in environmental engineering, recently traveled with classmates to Chile and the Patagonia region of South America, where she learned about environmental conservation efforts aimed at protecting Chile’s ecosystems.

March 22, 2023

Over spring break, a group of 14 Penn State faculty visited the Belize Foundation for Research and Environmental Education (BFREE) to explore opportunities to develop long-term collaborative research, education and outreach projects. The multidisciplinary group included faculty from the College of Agricultural Sciences, Eberly College of Science, Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, and School of International Affairs.

March 22, 2023

Sarah Kunkel, who graduated in 2020 with a major in animal science and a minor in equine science, is working on her master’s degree at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. However, she currently is interning in Sagalla, Kenya, for the Elephants and Bees Project, part of the Save the Elephants organization’s Human-Elephant Coexistence program.

March 22, 2023

Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences is hosting two visiting scholars from Ukraine during the spring semester, through efforts of a University-wide task force.

March 22, 2023

A new discovery, reported today in a global study that encompassed more than a decade of research, could lead to the breeding of corn crops that can withstand drought and low-nitrogen soil conditions and ultimately ease global food insecurity, according to a Penn State-led team of international researchers.

March 15, 2023

Representatives from Penn State, Meru University of Science and Technology, and Meru County in Kenya signed a memorandum of understanding in a ceremony in Kenya to formally commence their new partnership.

March 1, 2023

The Amazon-funded project in Colombia’s Chingaza National Nature Park will promote water security in Bogotá and support 6,500 residents from 11 municipalities in the Chingaza area.

March 1, 2023

A new online textbook for undergraduate students titled, “Everyone Needs to Eat: An Introduction to Food Security and Global Agriculture" has been written by graduate students in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences. The book is an in-depth examination of the ecological, economic, social, political and technological factors that influence whether a person, community or nation is considered food secure.

February 28, 2023

The Global Teach Ag Network at Penn State is partnering with the University of Tennessee at Martin on a new project to help empower small-farm owners with sustainable agriculture practices.

February 28, 2023

Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences is hosting a webinar series to share on-the-ground perspectives on the war on Ukraine. The presentations will take place from 11 a.m. to noon on Thursdays from March 16 through May 4 via Zoom.

February 14, 2023

For those interested in learning about how beekeeping is practiced in different parts of the world, Penn State Extension is offering a free, seven-week webinar series.

February 6, 2023

The Perreault Fellows Program, an international internship program funded by an endowment given by Paul and Beverly Perreault, is entering its third year at Penn State.

February 1, 2023

To help ease costs related to preparing for education abroad, Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences has established the Ag Sciences Global Gear Closet — a resource for students that provides donated items that might be helpful while studying abroad.

February 1, 2023

Specialty mushrooms such as oyster are relatively easy to grow on a small scale, making them attractive to those looking to diversify a farm, engage in a hobby or launch a small business. Research-based information from Penn State about producing specialty mushrooms also may benefit people from a war-torn region of Africa.

February 1, 2023

The alliance, called GCUA, is a network of more than 15 universities worldwide with a shared vision of contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals through international collaboration and research.

February 1, 2023

Shah Chowdhury graduated from Penn State in 2018 with a degree in community, environment and development. He co-founded an organization called Footsteps, was part of the Youth Assembly at the United Nations, was a Diana Award recipient, and was nominated for Forbes "30 Under 30" list for Asia.

February 1, 2023

Divya Pant collaborated with Rabin Pant, founder of the Waste to Energy project, on her initiative Carbon Away. She founded the program in 2021 with the goal of converting waste generated during the agricultural process into energy and fertilizer.

November 9, 2022

The Latinx Agricultural Network in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences has been lauded nationally for enhancing engagement with and support for Pennsylvania’s Latino agricultural community. The group was the recipient of the 2022 National Extension Award for Diversity, co-sponsored by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities' Extension Committee on Organization and Policy, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

October 31, 2022

An international, Penn State-led consortium aims to improve drought risk analysis and management and increase societal resilience in Africa, funded by a three-year, $1.1 million grant from the Belmont Forum.

October 31, 2022

Lisa Witzig has been appointed director of Penn State’s Center for Security Research and Education. With a career that spans over 40 years of working with the U.S. Intelligence Community and in the private sector, Witzig’s new responsibilities will include securing funding for interdisciplinary research on security-related topics and organizing opportunities to bring together key players in security-related fields together with Penn State faculty and students.

October 31, 2022

New research led by Penn State found that a lack of rainfall was associated with the highest risk of food insecurity in Tanzania. Heather Randell, assistant professor of rural sociology and demography in the College of Agricultural Sciences, said the findings could have important policy implications focused on helping agricultural households become more resilient against drought conditions.

October 31, 2022

Osama Awadelkarim, professor of engineering science and mechanics and the director of the Center for Nanotechnology Education and Utilization in the College of Engineering, and Mark Brennan, professor of leadership and community development and director of graduate studies for education, development and community engagement in the College of Agricultural Sciences — hold the prestigious title of UNESCO chair.

October 31, 2022

Inspired by his early days growing up in Bangladesh, Chowdhury — now a Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences alumnus — knew solutions were needed for the challenges faced by Bangladeshis, including the lack of access to safe drinking water.