Latest News

September 17, 2026

Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT), part of Penn State University Libraries, has named 21 recipients of the 2026 Faculty Engagement Awards with this year’s theme, “Teaching with AI Glasses: Augmented Reality for Real-Time Learning.”

September 17, 2026

The One Health Microbiome Center recognized five Penn State researchers and trainees with its 2026 awards for contributions to microbiome science, leadership, community engagement, creativity, research and mentorship.

September 17, 2026

Kashish Verma, a student in the agricultural and environmental plant science doctoral program in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, has been named a Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research Fellow for 2026-29.

September 15, 2026

Penn State graduate students in a research-based degree program are invited to participate in Penn State's annual Three Minute Thesis competition (3MT), hosted by the J. Jeffrey and Ann Marie Fox Graduate School. 3MT helps graduate students improve their research communication and presentation skills, permitting just three minutes and one static presentation slide to effectively communicate their research and its impact to an audience outside their field.

September 15, 2026

Joe Louis has been named head of the Department of Plant Science in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, effective Oct. 7.

September 15, 2026

Two are better than one when it comes to sampling methods for tracking the location and timing of toxic chemical contamination in waterways, according to researchers at Penn State. The team tested two typical sampling approaches and found that both are needed to accurately assess both the variety and concentration of contaminants of emerging concern — pharmaceuticals, personal care products, livestock manure-borne hormones, veterinary antibiotics and pesticides — in a watershed.

September 14, 2026

Researchers in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences performed a series of studies examining the prevalence of the Echinococcus tapeworm in wild canids and domestic dogs, along with the best ways to detect it.

September 10, 2026

Penn State researchers recently found that a camera paired with artificial intelligence could monitor individual turkeys and make reasonably accurate bodyweight predictions up to three weeks into the future.

September 9, 2026

Varieties of cacao plants — which give rise to chocolate — differently mitigate and manage a toxic heavy metal that occurs naturally in the plants' soil. Researchers have now identified genetic differences in how two varieties manage metal uptake and facilitate the metal’s movement throughout the plant, which could help inform breeding practices.

September 4, 2026

The Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences celebrated 30 years since its 1996 founding as the Life Sciences Consortium with a reception at the Bryce Jordan Center’s 1855 Club.

September 2, 2026

Ava Ciabattoni, a fourth-year student majoring in pharmacology and toxicology in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, has been selected for the Rachel Carson Council’s 2026-27 National Environmental Leadership Fellowship.

September 2, 2026

The plot of "Finding Nemo," a film that features an overprotective single father fish taking on dangers at sea to care for his son, may be more reflective of actual fish dad behavior than was previously known. A new study led by a Penn State scientist found that baby freshwater fish, when raised by dutiful fathers, fare far better than their non-dad-raised peers in life-or-death situations.

September 1, 2026

Marine heatwaves — periods of abnormally warm ocean temperatures — may have negative health effects on children who live in coastal communities in low- or middle-income countries, according to a study led by researchers at Penn State and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

September 1, 2026

Jingzhou Wang, a graduate student in the Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology and Education at Penn State, will give the talk “Flood Risk and Housing Markets without Flood Insurance: Evidence from 1930s Pittsburgh,” at noon on Wednesday, Sept. 9, in 157 Hosler Building on Penn State's University Park campus.

August 27, 2026

Different cover crops may affect how plants can defend themselves against pests — including attracting more insects that eat harmful caterpillars, according to a new study led by researchers at Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences.

August 27, 2026

Farmers in West Africa have long used a mixture of traditional plants to reduce fungi in grain storage, but the true impact of this approach was unknown, according to an international team led by Penn State food scientists. Now, that team has found that a formulation made from an evergreen tree called neem, lemongrass, garlic and hot chili plants effectively inhibits the growth of two kinds of Fursarium fungus in corn.

August 25, 2026

With the invasive emerald ash borer beetle decimating black ash across North America, according to the U.S. Forest Service, a team led by Penn State researchers conducted an expansive study of genetic diversity in black ash seeds collected across the tree’s geographic range and stored in seed banks. As part of the research, the team established three large common gardens — experimental plantings — of black ash that someday may play a role in producing seeds needed to bring the species back.

August 20, 2026

While they are on opposite sides of the country, Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in New York and California’s Pebble Beach Golf Club have at least two things in common. They are both hosting the U.S. Open Golf tournament and they both now seed their greens with a weed that most of the nation’s golf clubs spent decades eradicating.

August 19, 2026

Three Penn State alumni now working at the Institute of Energy and the Environment are using the hands-on experiences, mentorship and technical training they gained as students to advance environmental research.

August 17, 2026

The Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing’s Center for Nursing Research has announced its Research Talks for the 2026-27 academic year. This eight-part virtual series is designed to advance nursing research by fostering collaboration between researchers to bridge the gap between research theory and application.

August 11, 2026

Bumblebees are able to learn to associate new odors with their colony’s queen, instead of being preprogrammed to recognize the queen’s pheromones from birth, according to a new study led by researchers at Penn State.

August 11, 2026

Andrew Patterson has been named the H. Thomas and Dorothy Willits Hallowell Chair in Agricultural Sciences at Penn State.

August 7, 2026

Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences students Paige Alexander and Ingrid Lara Bordin Fernandes are two of 36 Penn State graduate students recognized in a new round of scholarships from the J. Jeffrey and Ann Marie Fox Graduate School at Penn State.

August 7, 2026

A new program in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences is enriching the summer research experience of undergraduate students through shared learning experiences aimed at preparing them for future success in research and beyond.

August 6, 2026

A new $590,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture will help fund an ongoing project to survey county governments across the U.S. to better understand the challenges they face in providing services and enacting policies that improve economic growth and well-being in rural communities.

August 4, 2026

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.

August 4, 2026

Vegetable production from soilless farming, a fast-growing segment of modern agriculture, addresses water scarcity, land limitations and food security, but microbial management remains a challenge, according to a team of researchers at Penn State, who conducted a study of bacteria in five soilless farming systems.