Institute for Sustainable Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Science (SAFES)
An interdisciplinary, science-to-practice platform to study landscape-level challenges
The Institute for Sustainable Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Science (SAFES) establishes a novel environment for accelerating solutions to persistent and emergent challenges centered on agriculture, food, and the environment. The science of agricultural sustainability underpins the mission of SAFES and provides a comprehensive approach to the complexity of challenges which integrates natural and social sciences with technological advancements, human behavior, economics, and policy.
Research
SAFES launches and supports transdisciplinary research teams that reflect unique strengths within the College of Agricultural Sciences and that conduct research driven to meet the needs of our stakeholders.
SAFES' Critical Issue Initiatives are the research hubs of the institute, convening expertise on agricultural, environmental, and health topics of strategic importance to the college and the Commonwealth.
SAFES’ Seed2Sustain seed grant program provides funds to spark interdisciplinary research collaborations and advance the land-grant mission through the integration of research, extension, and education activities.
Through its research and engagement activities, SAFES is well-positioned to assemble networks of scholars and extension professionals that can respond rapidly to stakeholder concerns.
Partnerships and Engagement
SAFES shortens the distance between science and practice by actively connecting researchers with extension educators and external stakeholders. These partnerships are largely led by the Agriculture and Environment Center (AEC) and the Center for Agricultural Conservation Assistance Training (CACAT) through a shared discovery engagement process.
Education
SAFES offers a unique platform to educate students and inspire the next generation of leaders by providing highly visible, impactful engaged scholarship experiences that demonstrate the integration of research, partnerships, and engagement into education.
SAFES partners with faculty to develop engaged scholarship and experiential learning that connect teaching, research, and extension through meaningful community partnerships.
SAFES provides awards of up to $5,000 to help faculty develop new engaged scholarship and experiential learning (ESEL) opportunities through our ESEL grant program
Latest News
August 6, 2026
SAFES in College of Ag Sciences Names Student Learning Program Grant Recipients
Five projects designed to enhance student learning and hands-on learning have received grants from Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences through its Institute for Sustainable Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Science (SAFES) program. The faculty leading the projects each received $5,000 through the institute's Engaged Scholarship and Experiential Learning Seed Grant program.
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April 24, 2026
Penn State Strengthens Water Education Network
Researchers and educators gather to discuss pressing water issues
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February 24, 2026
Some Pesticides can Slip Under Natural Protection into Streams, Researchers Find
Stream study reveals that some pesticides travel with surface runoff while others can infiltrate, move with groundwater and evade anti-pollution structures.
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August 27, 2025
Fine-tuning Zinc Supplementation, Light Exposure to Boost Microgreens' Nutrition
Microgreens, which are young, edible plants that only take one to three weeks to harvest, are more than garnish at trendy restaurants — they could be the answer to global hunger, according to plant scientists at Penn State. Already densely packed with nutrients, microgreens can be made even more nutritious with a couple of minor growing adjustments. The research team that has experimented with different approaches for five years recently published the results of two new studies quantifying the nutritional results of supplementing microgreens with varied amounts of zinc during their growth, called agronomic biofortification, and exposing the plants to different amounts of light.
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$10.2M in active externally funded grants
130+ SAFES members
29 Seed Grants since 2021
Institute for Sustainable Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Science
Address
111 Ferguson BuildingUniversity Park, PA 16802-2600
- Email safes@psu.edu
