Plant Sciences

Plant sciences student Laura Reese spent her spring semester working for NASA in Cape Canaveral, Florida. She performed research in conditions meant to emulate growing plants in space.

Sara Getson came to Penn State and developed an unexpected academic passion — fungi.

Switching majors in college is not unusual, but Morgan Lingle followed an unusual path. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in psychology before she began pursuing her interests in plants professionally.

Is there a better place for a summer vacation than Hawaii? After spending 12 weeks on the island of Maui interning with Monsanto, Nettie Baugher, a senior plant sciences major, doesn't think so.

Penn State Plant Science majors Casey Baxter and Mikaela Hermstedt may know all there is to know about the Irish potato famine. This past spring, they took HORT 499H Walking in the Footsteps of the Irish During the Irish Potato Famine: Examinations of New World Crops in Old World Societies. The honors class included a 10-day trip to Ireland after a semester of lectures on the potato and other essential crops of both the United States and Ireland.

One might think that balancing demanding studies and a high-profile, sport-related activity is difficult, but senior plant science major Rychele Stipcak, in the College of Agricultural Sciences, has mostly made it look easy.

The idea of a student-centered farm at Penn State already has inspired dozens of students to become involved in its planning, even though many will graduate before the farm is realized. Julian Subick and Briana Yablonski, two seniors graduating from Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, have devoted much of their last year at Penn State to the rigorous farm-planning process, and they don’t regret a single moment.

A group of 12 Penn State students traveled to Thailand and Cambodia last winter to witness recent agricultural developments that could play a role in alleviating poverty and ending world hunger

Farming seven acres of land and selling the vegetables at two roadside stands, three grocery stores and a large market may seem like a lot for a student to take on. For Penn State sophomore Alex Cantey, it's business as usual.

In the classroom and laboratory, performing on the field — or in it, doing world-class research and altruistic service around the globe — these Penn State students represent just a small fraction of what is "incredibly impressive" about our University.