Research and Outreach

Today's challenges transcend the borders of nations.

Health. Poverty. Environmental, agricultural, and food issues. The College of Ag Sciences seeks to ensure our faculty has continuous opportunities to collaborate around the world to impact these global challenges.

Encouraging faculty, graduate students, and extension professionals to exchange with other cultures, learn other languages, and effect change in the world is a priority for our college. Two-way collaborative flows between Penn State and our partners help us address globally relevant issues. We share people, information, research, and training with confidence that we can do more to change the world together than we could alone. 

Consortium for Ukrainian Rural Agricultural Development (CURAD)

For decades, Penn State has partnered with Ukrainian agricultural organizations—the nation's prime driver of equitable and sustainable economic growth and healthy democracy. CURAD supports small and medium-sized agricultural enterprises, with a particular focus on gender issues. Penn State is leading a team of universities committed to continuing the reform and development of agricultural and rural sectors of the Ukraine.

Learn more about Penn State's special partnership in the breadbasket of Europe.

Gender Equity through Agricultural Research and Education (GEARE)

GEARE is a network of interdisciplinary scholars and researchers who initiate and respond to new opportunities for research, instruction, and evidence-based outreach that address the intersections of gender with agricultural and environmental sciences. The initiative bridges the gaps between gender theory and the applied work being done to solve critical global problems such as food insecurity, climate change, and social inequity.

Discover more about GEARE

International Food Safety Initiative

Penn State's groundbreaking research, training, and outreach programs improve the health and quality of life for millions worldwide and help to ensure an accessible and nutritious food supply that is sage from threats, whether incidental or intentional. With partnerships in 12 countries on four continents, our current projects include lab safety assessment and training in East and South Africa, Food Safety Modernization Act materials for Central and Latin America, and customized trainings for students and industry participants in Armenia and the Ukraine.

Find out about our work in international food safety

Global Partnerships

We develop and promote collaborative initiatives through research, education, and outreach efforts that seek to enrich a greater understanding of agricultural systems and link ongoing local and global trends to several Feed the Future regions.

Ag2Africa

For more than three decades, the College of Agricultural Sciences has been advancing Penn State's collaborative initiatives in Africa to enhance food and economic security and sustainable agricultural development. Through research, extension, and education, we aim to promote sustainable livelihoods, enhance human resource capacity, build extension and outreach programs, and provide service-learning opportunities for students, in both the United States and Africa.

Ag2Americas

The Ag2Americas initiative supports collaborative efforts in the Western Hemisphere through research, education, and outreach, with a goal of fostering a greater understanding of agricultural systems in the Americas, and to link ongoing local and global trends in the region. Programs in Central and South America focus on gender, cacao production, horticulture production, pest management, youth and education, and market development.

Ag2Asia

International work in the college began in 1907 when we signed our first international agreement with a school in southern China. That school became South China Agricultural University, now a leading institution. Since then, we have expanded our work in Asia to address a wide variety of topics spanning gender and sociology, pest management, crops and horticulture, marketing, the environment, forestry, farming, and more.