Climate change is already affecting the areal extent of some human and livestock diseases and parasites and how they spread, and this is expected to intensify. Decreased access to clean water and healthy food poses health risks. We are making gains in food safety and learning more about the microbiome that we can use to promote health.
Faculty Working in this Area
- Associate Research Professor
- Extension Veterinarian
Areas of Expertise
- Transition cow management
- Dairy cattle reproduction
- Farm personnel training and performance
- Dairy production medicine
- Cow comfort
- Distinguished Professor of Entomology and Biology
- J. Lloyd & Dorothy Foehr Huck Chair of Epidemiology
- Email onb1@psu.edu
- Office 814-863-2983
- Assistant Research Professor
Areas of Expertise
- Honey bees
- Managed solitary bees
- Crop pollination
- Pollinator Ecology
- Integrated Pest and Pollinator Management
- Email nmb5846@psu.edu
- Office 814-863-3974
- Distinguished Professor of Molecular Immunology
Areas of Expertise
- Host resistance to infection
- Immune-mediated diseases: multiple sclerosis, and inflammatory bowel disease
- T cells
- Gastrointestinal microbiota; Gnotobiotics
- Vitamins A & D regulation of immune function
- Edible mushrooms
- Selenium
- Associate Professor of Food Science
Areas of Expertise
- Human Gut Microbiome
- Carbohydrate Active Enzymes
- Dietary Fiber
- Resistant Starch
- Professor of Food Science
- Undergraduate Program Coordinator
- Professor of Food Science
- Food Safety Extension Specialist - Muscle Foods
Areas of Expertise
- Food safety
- Food microbiology
- Foodborne pathogens
- Antimicrobials
- Edible films
- Spoilage
- Meat, poultry, seafood, muscle foods
- HACCP
- Sanitation
- Associate Professor of Reproductive Biology
Areas of Expertise
- Reproductive Biology
- Nutrition and Reproduction
- Ovarian Function
- Oocyte Development
- Email fjd10@psu.edu
- Office 814-865-1499
- Director of E. coli Reference Center
- Professor of Food Science
Areas of Expertise
- Microbiology
- Microbial pathogens
- Molecular microbiology
- Microbial genomics
- Food Safety
- Food Microbiology
- Professor and Associate Head of Food Science
Areas of Expertise
- Control of lipid oxidation in foods
- Antioxidant systems for foods and beverages
- Metal catalyzed oxidation reactions in foods
- Analysis of lipid oxidation markers
- Oxidative and flavor stability of fermented beverages (e.g., wine, beer)
- Email elias@psu.edu
- Office 814-865-5371
- Professor Emeritus
Areas of Expertise
- Air quality in indoor agriculture (barns, poultry houses)
- Heating and Ventilation system design, principles and practice
- Horse facility engineering (stables, riding arenas)
- Farm animal welfare
- Agricultural air emissions (gas, odor, particulates)
- Associate Professor of Agricultural Economics
Areas of Expertise
- Food Policy
- Health Economics
- International Trade
- Email lpf5158@psu.edu
- Office 814-863-5575
- Associate Professor of Food Animal Microbiomes
Areas of Expertise
- Microbiome
- Epidemiology
- Food Production Systems
- Antimicrobial Resistance
- Dairy Cattle
- Mastitis
- Animal Health and Productivity
- Email ganda@psu.edu
- Office 814-865-4084
- Professor Emeritus of Molecular Toxicology and Carcinogenesis
- Associate Chair, Molecular Cellular and Integrative Biosciences Graduate Program
- Email abg11@psu.edu
- Office 814-865-7170
- Publius Vergilius Maro Professor of Entomology
- Director, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences
Areas of Expertise
- Bees
- Genomics, Immunity, Behavior, Physiology, Ecology
- Decision Support Tools
- Technology for Identification and Monitoring of Insects
- Professor of Immunology
- Immunology and Infectious Disease Undergraduate Advisor
Areas of Expertise
- Regulation of innate immunity, hematopoiesis and cellular transformation by receptor tyrosine kinases.
- Professor of Food Science
Areas of Expertise
- Dairy Processing
- Food Rheology
- Food Engineering
- Email fmh14@psu.edu
- Office 814-867-5689
- Professor of Food Science
- Director, Sensory Evaluation Center
Areas of Expertise
- Sensory science
- Human psychophysics
- Taste biology
- Drug delivery systems
- Food choice
- Ingestive behavior
- Consumer acceptability
- Email jeh40@psu.edu
- Office 814-863-7129
- Associate Professor of Biology and Entomology
Areas of Expertise
- Systematics & Biodiversity
- Evolutionary Genetics
- Genomics
- Development
- Pollinator Biology
- Hymenoptera
- Bumble bees
- Email hmh19@psu.edu
- Office 814-863-8830
- Emerita Professor of Entomology
- Center for Chemical Ecology
- Center for Pollinator Research
- Insect Biodiversity Center
Areas of Expertise
- Biology and ecology of invasive species
- Insect-microbial symbiosis
- Tritrophic interactions
- Insect virology
- Pollination of forest trees
- Associate Professor of Food Science
- Director of Graduate Studies, Food Science
- Program Chair, Graduate Certificate Sensory & Consumer Science
Areas of Expertise
- Sensory & Consumer Science
- Flavor Chemistry & Flavor Biochemistry
- Sensometrics & Multivariate Statistics
- Food Packaging
- Email hxh83@psu.edu
- Office 814-863-5572
- Pronouns She/Her
- Clinical Professor & Extension Veterinarian
- Resident Director, Animal Diagnostic Lab
- Veterinary Extension Team Leader
Areas of Expertise
- Epidemiology
- Biosecurity and Infectious Disease Management
- Bovine Hoof Health, Mastitis, Milk Quality & Milking Equipment
- Johne's Disease
- On-farm Food Safety
- Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair in Global Food Security
Areas of Expertise
- My background is evolutionary biology and specifically the behavioral ecology of parasites and ants. Mostly, I worked on the extended phenotype concept, which was put forward by Richard Dawkins. I worked on different models, such as Strepsiptera in wasps and ants, nematodes in ants, and fungi that manipulate ant behavior- 'zombie ants'.
- But in the course of that work, I also did significant work on taxonomy, genomics, metabolomics, histology, ultrastructural morphology, machine learning to enable ant tracking, and some paleontology (which was fun).
- Since starting PlantVillage in 2012, I have worked extensively on machine learning, specifically computer vision of crop diseases, but later extending to computer vision to enable dietary (with Aulo Gelli at IFPRI). I have worked extensively on climate science, especially adaptation and use of satellites and machine learning to understand soil moisture or both ground biomass (with Amulya Yadav and Chaopeng Shen at Penn State). I have also worked on the invention and development of mobile Pyrolosis systems (with Dries Roobroeck and Sheldon Inyana) and capture and storage of carbon in concrete (with Maa'va who worked with Penn State concrete researchers). As the Director of the USAID Innovation Lab (Current and Emerging Threats to Crops), I worked on (and oversaw) research on scaling solutions to global food insecurity. Given the focus on solutions, I then started PlantVillage+ Inc, a Delaware C Corp spun out from the university in 2024 (and part owned by Penn State). To enable co-operative structures and long-term public benefit, PlantVillage+ is being co-founded with Annalyse McCloskey.
- More recently, and given my interest in PlantVillage/PlantVillage+ as a public good, I've become very interested in intellectual property arising from public funding , the organizational structures of corporations and particularly universities and worker cooperatives. Currently doing a study on the evolution of university systems with my alma mater, Oxford, as a case study and the nature of corporate bodies across time, including cooperatives.
- Professor of Agricultural Economics
Areas of Expertise
- Economic modeling of food purchase behavior
- Link between food behavior and health
- Food Waste
- Retail food product offerings and prices
- Organic food and agriculture
- Professor of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences
- Associate Director for Strategic Initiative, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences
Areas of Expertise
- Microbial pathogenomics and molecular epidemiology.
- Email vkapur@psu.edu
- Office 814-865-9788
- Associate Research Professor Emeritus of Food Science
Areas of Expertise
- Dairy Food Processing & Quality
- Dairy Food Safety
- Sensory Analysis of Dairy Products
- Artisanal Cheese
- Value-Added Dairy Products
- Assistant Professor, Department of Health and Nutritional Sciences and Food Science
Areas of Expertise
- Leveraging the food industry to improve child nutrition
- Improving the palatability of foods targeted at children
- Email klk37@psu.edu
- Office 814-863-2915
- Associate Professor
Areas of Expertise
- Metabolomics
- Natural Product Chemistry
- Bioinformatics
- Antimicrobial Drug Discovery
- Ethnobotany and Indigenous Knowledge
- Plant-associated Microbiomes
- Botanical Dietary Supplements
- Toxicology
- Email jjk6146@psu.edu
- Office 814-865-2887
- Associate Professor
Areas of Expertise
- Immunologic mechanisms of Bordetella
- Pathogenesis of Francisella tularensis
- Host-pathogen interactions
- Development of BSL-3 research programs
- Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair in Microbiomes in Food Safety
- Associate Professor of Food Science
Areas of Expertise
- Microbial Food Safety
- Foodborne Pathogens
- Genomic Epidemiology
- Microbiomes in Food Systems
- Antimicrobial Resistance
- Email jzk303@psu.edu
- Office 814-865-2883
- Professor Emeritus of Food Science and Extension Specialist
Areas of Expertise
- Tracking Listeria monocytogenes in produce production and processing environments
- Food safety validation of mushroom growing, packing, and processing.
- L. monocytogenes in tree fruit packinghouses.
- Farm food safety (Good Agricultural Practices) training
- Hazards Analysis and Risk Based Preventive Controls training
- Technical assistance to home and commercial food processors
- Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)
- Email lfl5@psu.edu
- Office 814-863-2298
- Professor of Food Science
- Co-Director, Center for Plant and Mushroom Foods for Health
Areas of Expertise
- Cancer Prevention by Dietary Components
- Obesity and Inflammation Prevention by Dietary Components
- Food Toxicology
- Bioavailability and Biotransformation of Dietary Components
- Natural Products Chemistry
- Associate Professor of Agricultural Economics
Areas of Expertise
- Food Marketing
- Food and Energy Policy
- Energy Economics
- Industrial Organization
- Applied Econometrics
- Email yul459@psu.edu
- Office 814-863-8039
- Nancy and John Steimer Professor of Agricultural Sciences
- Associate Professor of Entomology
- Associate Professor of Entomology
Areas of Expertise
- Veterinary Entomology
- Tick ecology and control
- Filth fly management and behavior
- Wildlife entomology
- Arthropod behavior
- Associate Professor Emeritus of Meat Science
- Email emills@psu.edu
- Office 814-865-2394
- Peter and Ann Tombros Dean;
- Director, Pennsylvania Agricultural Experiment Station
Areas of Expertise
- Reproductive Biology
- Assisted Reproductive Technologies
- Animal Science
- Dairy production
- Agricultural Biotechnology
- Agricultural Sustainability
- Graduate Training
- Undergraduate Instruction
- Email tlo12@psu.edu
- Office 814-865-2541
- Assistant Research Professor
- Email hmpatch@psu.edu
- Office 814-867-3023
- Professor Emeritus of Reproductive Physiology
Areas of Expertise
- Reproductive Biology
- Reproductive Immunology
- Ovarian Function
- Email jlp36@psu.edu
- Office 814-863-0558
- John T. and Paige S. Smith Professorship
- Professor of Molecular Toxicology
- Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Areas of Expertise
- Metabolomics
- Microbiome
- Drug Metabolism
- Metabolism
- Environmental Contaminants
- Professor of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences
- Immunology and Infectious Disease Undergraduate Program Coordinator
Areas of Expertise
- Hematology
- Erythropoiesis
- Anemia Research
- Leukemia
- H. Thomas and Dorothy Willits Hallowell Chair in Agricultural Sciences
Areas of Expertise
- microbiome
- aryl hydrocarbon receptor
- dioxin
- drug metabolism
- toxicology
- transcriptional regulation
- Email ghp2@psu.edu
- Office 814-865-0400
- Distinguished Professor of Molecular Toxicology & Carcinogenesis
- Interim Director, The Penn State Cancer Institute
Areas of Expertise
- Molecular toxicology and carcinogenesis
- Nuclear receptors
- Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors
- Cancer
- Lipid metabolism
- Email jmp21@psu.edu
- Office 814-863-1387
- Department Head
- Professor of Immunology and Molecular Toxicology
Areas of Expertise
- Redox biology with an emphasis on selenium and selenoproteins
- Macrophage biology- emphasis on inflammation and resolution
- Endogenous bioactive lipid mediators
- Cancer (leukemia) and leukemia stem cells
- Redox control of stress erythropoiesis during inflammation
- Professor Emeritus of Entomology
- Email uvu@psu.edu
- Office 8142808254
- Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Endowed Chair in Disease Epidemiology and Biotechnology
Areas of Expertise
- Wolbachia
- Symbiosis
- Genetically-modified organisms
- Vector-borne disease
- Densovirus
- Population biology
- aquaporins
- Email jlr54@psu.edu
- Office 814-863-3668
- Senior Vice President for Research
- Evan Pugh University Professor of Biology and Entomology
- Email a.read@psu.edu
- Office 814-867-2396
- Professor and Head of Food Science
Areas of Expertise
- Microbiology
- Dairy Products Processing
- Ice Cream
- Yogurt
- Non-dairy Frozen Desserts
- Assistant Research Professor
- Professor of Molecular Virology
- Director, Pathobiology Graduate Program
Areas of Expertise
- Virology
- Infectious Disease
- Viral Budding
- Cellular Trafficking
- Virus-like Particles
- Zoonoses
- Email aps13@psu.edu
- Office 814-863-6781
- Associate Professor of Equine Science
Areas of Expertise
- Nutritional Influences on Growth and Development
- Mammalian Patterns of Growth
- Dietary Energy Sources Impact on Metabolism
- Gastrointestinal Permeability
- Gastrointestinal Health and Inflammation
- Grazing Strategies for Horse Health and Performance
- Equine Pasture and Manure Management Practices
- Email wstaniar@psu.edu
- Office 814-865-0698
- Professor of Molecular Toxicology
- Pharmacology and Toxicology Undergraduate Program Coordinator
Areas of Expertise
- Pharmacology and Toxicology
- Nuclear receptors
- Molecular Nutrition
- Drug Discovery
- Entrepreneurship and Innovation
- Associate Professor of Food Science
Areas of Expertise
- Food mycology
- Mycotoxins
- Toxicology
- Genotype-phenotype interaction
- Nutritional immunology
- Email jmw970@psu.edu
- Office 814-863-2956
- Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Food Science
Areas of Expertise
- Food process engineering
- Food materials science
- Biopolymers
- Chocolate and confectionery
Office for Research and Graduate Education
Address
217 Agricultural Administration BuildingUniversity Park, PA 16802-2600
- Email agresearch@psu.edu
- Office 814-865-3136
Office for Research and Graduate Education
Address
217 Agricultural Administration BuildingUniversity Park, PA 16802-2600
- Email agresearch@psu.edu
- Office 814-865-3136
