Latest News

October 1, 2023

A longtime faculty member and research leader in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences will serve in the newly created role of associate director of the Pennsylvania Agricultural Experiment Station. The Agricultural Experiment Station is the college's umbrella organization for managing and reporting state and federally funded research.

September 29, 2023

A video that highlights the work a Penn State team is doing to 3D print houses that can sustain life on Mars is featured in a new $8.5 million core exhibit opening Nov. 4 at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. 

September 22, 2023

Funded by a $1 million grant from the U.S Department of Agriculture, a Penn State-led research team will assess levels of antimicrobial-resistant microorganisms in Puerto Rico's dairy industry and train farmers and students to mitigate the health threat they pose in the U.S. territory.

September 14, 2023

Some scientists believe the Paramos, a grassland ecosystem found in the northern Andes Mountains of South America, are “the world’s fastest evolving and coolest biodiversity hotspot,” according to Estelle Couradeau, assistant professor of soils and environmental microbiology in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences. This ecosystem — which is the prime headwater for lower tropical ecosystems and downstream urban centers in the Andean and the Orinoco-Amazon regions — is in jeopardy, she explained. Couradeau will lead a National Science Foundation-funded international team conducting research on how climate change will affect soil microbes in the ecologically fragile and important Paramos ecosystem in Colombia’s Andes Mountains.

September 12, 2023

With a new $650,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Carolyn Lowry, a plant scientist in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, will lead a research team designing cover crop mixtures that are more effective at providing an array of ecosystem services.

September 12, 2023

David M. Geiser, professor of mycology in the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences, was elected to the executive leadership of the Mycological Society of America, where he will serve successive terms as vice president, president-elect, president and past president over the next four years.

September 6, 2023

Reduced protein feed for dairy cows is designed to decrease environmental nitrogen pollution from their manure such as nitrate leaching, nutrient-laden run-off and ammonia volatilization, but can lower milk production. A Penn State-led research team found that supplementing the feed with the amino acid histidine may help in maintaining, and even increasing, milk and milk-protein yields.  

September 5, 2023

A team of Penn State researchers recently held a workshop in Ghana on how gender affects dynamics within the agriculture industry. The trip capped a multi-year effort to better understand time poverty among women peanut farmers.

September 5, 2023

In 2012, when the spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) arrived in the U.S. from its home in China, scientists, land managers and growers were concerned that the sap-feeding insect would damage native and commercial trees. New long-term research led by Penn State has revealed that hardwood trees, such as maple, willow and birch, may be less vulnerable than initially thought.

September 1, 2023

New updates have come to 'Beescape,' an online tool created by a Penn State-led team for assessing the quality of landscapes for supporting bees and other pollinators.

September 1, 2023

Season 4 of the “Growing Impact” podcast opens with an episode that dives into plastic waste, specifically plastic film, and a potential biological solution of upcycling the material with fungi.

August 29, 2023

A dairy pricing policy originally proposed at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic could have resulted in dairy farmers getting 10% more for their products if the policy had been passed, according to a Penn State study.

August 28, 2023

A team of Penn State researchers has received a $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation to spearhead a new initiative to create novel monitoring systems for insect populations, many of which are experiencing dramatic changes across the globe due to changes in land use, pollution and climate change.

August 25, 2023

A diet including a carefully selected assortment of microgreens may help address an individual’s nutritional deficiencies, according to a Penn State researcher who led an international team that evaluated the mineral content in young specimens of 17 different plant species.

August 23, 2023

Erika Ganda, assistant professor of food animal microbiomes and executive committee member of Penn State’s One Health Microbiome Center, was recently awarded two grants totaling $1.3 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to lead teams of scientists in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Penn State Extension in studies of pathogenic threats to livestock and people.

August 22, 2023

The One Health Microbiome Center in the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences at Penn State has named five recipients for its 2023-24 Interdisciplinary Innovation Fellowships program, which aims to promote collaborative training opportunities for center members and research development.

August 21, 2023

Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences graduate students received more predoctoral fellowships from the U.S. Department of Agriculture than any other institution over the last five years. This year, five of the 11 recipients worked in the college’s long-term cover crop cocktails experiment. 

August 21, 2023

A Penn State livestock emissions expert has received a grant from the Greener Cattle Initiative to develop actionable options to mitigate enteric (intestinal) methane emissions from cattle — which are produced via belching.  

August 16, 2023

A global research team led by Penn State was the first to study how extreme heat waves affect the host-pathogen relationship between two species of solitary bees (Osmia cornifrons and Osmia lignaria) and a protozoan pathogen (Crithidia mellificae).

August 15, 2023

A team of researchers in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences has identified a compound in white button mushrooms that could potentially benefit gut health in mammals. They published their findings in the Journal of Functional Foods.

August 11, 2023

A protein in mouse ovaries regulates the formation of the ovarian follicle reserve — comprising a mammal’s egg cells and surrounding support cells, according to a study conducted by a U.S.-Canadian research team. The discovery provides a foundation for further research on premature ovarian insufficiency and menopause in women and reproductive problems in dairy cows.

August 8, 2023

Four students in the Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences were recently awarded the Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to advance their research ambitions. The Schreyer Honors Scholars  are Jackie Kiszka, Asha Spencer and Mallory Wickline, all third-year students majoring in meteorology and atmospheric science, and Bridget Reheard, who is also a third-year student and double majoring in geosciences and wildlife and fisheries science.

August 3, 2023

Using a novel method to detect microbial activity in biological soil crusts, or biocrusts, after they are wetted, a Penn State-led research team in a new study uncovered clues that may lead to a better understanding of the role microbes play in forming a living skin over many semi-arid ecosystems around the world. The tiny organisms — and the microbiomes they create — are threatened by climate change.

July 26, 2023

The presence of a second species of ramp, Allium burdickii — commonly known as narrow-leaved wild leek — has been documented in southwest Pennsylvania by a team of Penn State researchers in a new study. This plant species never before has been documented in the state, and the researchers suggest the discovery shows a need to protect remaining populations of the plant.

July 21, 2023

A variety of topics related to agriculture and natural resources will be in the spotlight on several research and educational tours offered during Penn State's Ag Progress Days, set for Aug. 8-10 at Rock Springs.

July 21, 2023

Initial findings from a soil testing project launched a year ago in Philadelphia indicate positive news for urban growers — low levels of contaminants and higher than expected levels of nutrients. The project is aimed at helping to ensure safe and productive urban gardening.

July 20, 2023

 At a time when Pennsylvania is actively working to achieve water-quality improvements to meet the state’s obligations for cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay, a multidisciplinary Penn State research team is studying whether agricultural pollution-prevention devices called riparian buffers are working properly. 

July 19, 2023

Investigating how environmental chemical exposure impacts the gut microbiome to exacerbate inflammatory conditions and chronic diseases is the goal of a new $7 million grant awarded to Andrew Patterson, professor of molecular toxicology and the John T. and Paige S. Smith Professor in the College of Agricultural Sciences.