September 10, 2019
Members of the Penn State Student Farm Club are looking forward to a busy semester. Their first event of the year, the fourth annual Harvest Festival, will take place from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 12, at the Student Farm.
September 9, 2019
Natural gas production trends, both regional and national, will be the subject of a web-based seminar offered by Penn State Extension at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 26.
September 7, 2019
“Lingering ash." That’s what the U.S. Forest Service calls the relatively few green and white ash trees that survive the emerald ash borer onslaught. Those trees do not survive by accident, and that may save the species, according to Penn State researchers, who conducted a six-year study of ash decline and mortality.
September 6, 2019
Supported by a $4.3 million grant from the National Science Foundation, a multi-institutional project will draw on Penn State entomological expertise and collections to document and digitize the historical population dynamics of arthropod parasites, such as ticks, lice and mosquitoes.
September 5, 2019
More than 20 Penn State researchers are participating in the upcoming climate solutions conference Research to Action: The Science of Drawdown. Overall, more than 70 speakers will be presenting at the event, which will take place Sept. 16-18 at the Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center.
September 5, 2019
Research to Action: The Science of Drawdown, the conference focused on climate solutions being hosted at Penn State from Sept. 16-18, will be livestreamed online for free. Interested viewers can see the conference agenda for what is planned during the three-day event, which is sold out.
September 4, 2019
Penn State tailgaters and students alike have new products to enjoy thanks to a partnership between Berkey Creamery and the Penn State Meats Laboratory. The Creamery now carries five flavors of salami, five flavors of beef jerky and three flavors of meat snack sticks, all made at the Meats Lab.
September 4, 2019
Penn State’s Environmental Resource Management program is one of the top five environmental science programs in the nation, according to successfulstudent.org, a student resource website that evaluates colleges and degrees from a student’s point of view.
September 4, 2019
Ben McGraw, associate professor of turfgrass science, has received the Excellence in Academic Advising Award from Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences for 2019.
September 4, 2019
Students who have always dreamed of traveling to the Emerald Isle and have an interest in horses, now may have the chance through an embedded course, Animal Science ANSC 499. “Ireland’s Equine Industry: A Global Perspective into the Horse World” will be offered for the first time in the spring 2020 semester.
September 3, 2019
A new look at the prevalence of the widespread and often fatal sheep and goat plague virus in Tanzania reveals that livestock managed in a system where they are the sole source of an owners’ livelihood are more likely to become infected.
September 3, 2019
Selective browsing by white-tailed deer has been blamed by many for changing the character and composition of forest understories in the eastern U.S.; however, its impact on the forest canopy was previously unknown.
September 3, 2019
Penn State researchers have been awarded a $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation in a multi-institutional effort to assist Alaskan coastal Indigenous communities with foreseeable environmental challenges due to global warming.
September 3, 2019
Three Penn State researchers — Rachel Brennan, in the College of Engineering, and Mike Jacobson and Brian Thiede, in the College of Agricultural Sciences — recently received $250,000 in University Strategic Plan seed funding to address global Water-Energy-Food (WEF) challenges.
August 30, 2019
This is the time of year when thousands of students, families and football fans are coming to University Park, and Penn State officials want to make sure those visitors are not transporting the spotted lanternfly, an invasive insect that is threatening the northeastern U.S., especially southeastern Pennsylvania.
August 30, 2019
Penn State’s newest online certificate combines the study of sensory and consumer science with statistics, with an eye toward preparing students to obtain, analyze and describe product and consumer insight, provide clear recommendations on optimizing the quality of products, and increase the market success of those products.
August 29, 2019
When it comes to using insecticides to control spotted lanternfly populations, homeowners might be tempted to take a “more is better” approach. But that is a flawed — and potentially dangerous — way of thinking, noted a Penn State Extension educator who has been immersed in the spotted lanternfly saga from the start.
August 28, 2019
For many students, there is a class or subject they are nervous to take. Sometimes, however, it is in those classes that a student finds an inspirational teacher — a teacher who makes learning what may be a difficult subject a joy to learn. For alumni Louis Swanson and Carol Gertsch, that subject was statistics, and the teacher was Fern “Bunny” Willits, professor emerita in the Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology, and Education.
August 28, 2019
In 2018, Penn State and Monash University in Melbourne, Australia launched the Joint Collaboration Development Program, a jointly financed seed-fund program with the aim to collaborate on research projects. The first round of seed funding saw 23 projects funded. The two institutions have committed these seed funds for a second year, around the intersection of health and the environment.
August 27, 2019
Stopping the spread of the spotted lanternfly, one of the most destructive pests to hit the U.S. in years, is a priority for Pennsylvania. And it’s a priority at Penn State, too. With hundreds of employees traveling daily to and from the southeastern part of the state — the epicenter of the invasion — University officials want to make sure that employees are not inadvertently transporting the insect to unaffected regions.
August 27, 2019
This summer, the Center for the Agricultural Sciences and a Sustainable Environment at Penn State Berks became "ground zero" for the research of organic and conventional methods to eradicate the spotted lanternfly.
August 26, 2019
More than half of people in the world, including in the United States, live alongside Aedes aegypti — the mosquito that transmits dengue, Zika and other often deadly viruses. Dengue virus, alone, infects nearly 400 million people worldwide each year. To reduce transmission of dengue to humans, scientists have introduced Wolbachia bacteria to A. aegypti mosquitoes. Now a team of international researchers has found that Wolbachia’s ability to block virus transmission may be maintained by natural selection, alleviating concern that this benefit could diminish over time.
August 23, 2019
Three Penn State Extension Master Gardener programs were lauded for excellence during the 2019 International Master Gardener Conference, held this summer at Pennsylvania's Valley Forge Casino Resort and attended by program volunteers from most of the 50 states, Canada, South Korea and England.
August 22, 2019
A family commitment to philanthropy, a career-long dedication to the food industry, and a deeply rooted connection to Penn State serve as inspiration for a newly created graduate fellowship in the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences.
August 21, 2019
Pathogenic bacteria that stubbornly lurk in some apple-packing facilities may be sheltered and protected by harmless bacteria that are known for their ability to form biofilms, according to Penn State researchers, who suggest the discovery could lead to development of alternative foodborne-pathogen-control strategies.
August 20, 2019
Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences has awarded funding to one individual and two teams to support the development of innovative curricula under the college's Harbaugh Faculty Scholars program.
August 20, 2019
Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences recently recognized recipients of the Outstanding Senior Award and Outstanding Student Awards for the 2018-19 academic year.
August 20, 2019
The George A. and Tina K. Georges Scholarship, which benefits students minoring in poultry and avian science or in animal science, has been created in the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences.
August 20, 2019
This October, Penn State Teaching and Learning with Technology and the College of Agricultural Sciences will team up for a one-day symposium on digital fluency. Registration for the event is open, and it is free to attend.
August 19, 2019
Could soilborne fungi found nearly everywhere in North America be the kryptonite that can help control the spotted lanternfly? Studies underway in the Philadelphia region -- carried out by scientists from Penn State and Cornell University -- aim to answer that question, with early findings showing promise against what has been described as the worst invasive pest to hit the U.S. since the gypsy moth.
