Latest News

February 27, 2024

TerraSafe has established a lab in State College and entered a licensing agreement with Penn State to commercialize sustainable packaging solutions developed by researchers at Penn State. The agreement is based on technologies invented by a research team led by Jeffrey Catchmark, professor of agricultural and biological engineering and of bioethics in the College of Agricultural Sciences. Catchmark and his team have worked for years developing technology that can replace conventionally used materials with those that are significantly more environmentally friendly.

February 22, 2024

Kathleen Keller, professor of nutritional sciences and food science at Penn State, will deliver the 2024 Pattishall Research Lecture on March 20. Her lecture will discuss brain and behavioral factors that drive what, why and how children eat, and how these eating behaviors predict the development of childhood obesity.

February 22, 2024

A team of researchers led by Sara Hermann, assistant professor of arthropod ecology and trophic interactions in the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences, has developed pest control tools based on chemicals present in interactions between ladybugs and aphids. These tools could offer farmers more sustainable pest-control options.

February 20, 2024

A new wireless charging device developed by Penn State scientists could dramatically improve powering capability for implantable biomedical devices — like pacemakers, insulin pumps and neurostimulators — while still being safe for our bodies, the researchers said.

February 16, 2024

An often-overlooked water plant that can double its biomass in two days, capture nitrogen from the air — making it a valuable green fertilizer — and be fed to poultry and livestock could serve as life-saving food for humans in the event of a catastrophe or disaster, a new study led by Penn State researchers suggests.

February 12, 2024

Supplementing the feed of high-producing dairy cows with the botanical extract capsicum oleoresin, obtained from chili peppers, or a combination of that extract and clove oil resulted in the animals using feed energy more efficiently and emitting less methane from their largest stomach, according to a new study conducted by Penn State researchers.

February 12, 2024

While a stable and predictable profit is an important factor to Pennsylvania farmers considering leasing out their land for solar energy development, it’s not enough on its own, according to a new study led by Penn State researchers.

February 12, 2024

The secret to making delicious chocolate with less added sugar is oat flour, according to a new study by Penn State researchers. In a blind taste test, recently published in the Journal of Food Science, 25% reduced-sugar chocolates made with oat flour were rated equally, and in some cases preferred, to regular chocolate. The findings provide a new option for decreasing chocolate’s sugar content while maintaining its texture and flavor.

February 12, 2024

Researchers at Penn State’s Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness have developed a new framework for assessing the quality of military-to-civilian transitions among post-9/11 veterans. They published their work in the journal Armed Forces and Society.

February 7, 2024

President Neeli Bendapudi shares the story of “Together, Tacit,” an inspiring interdisciplinary research and creative collaboration between the College of Arts and Architecture and the College of Engineering.

February 2, 2024

Pairing education with financial assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program could help to improve diet quality, according to new research published in the journal Agricultural Economics.

February 2, 2024

The latest episode of the "Growing Impact" podcast explores how to minimize the conflict that can occur when considering placement of solar energy installations.

January 31, 2024

Managing forest edge habitats to maintain a gradient of canopy cover and plant density could be key to conserving some threatened native plant species such as wild lupine, according to Penn State researchers, who said edge habitats along roadways and utility rights-of-way provide prime opportunities to promote rare native plant populations.

January 31, 2024

Spicy food lovers know that milk can ease the oral burn, but why? Some believe that fat is the soother, with whole cow’s milk reducing the bite more than low-fat cow’s milk or plant milks. A new study conducted by Penn State food scientists, however, suggests that protein plays a role in cooling the heat sensation, too.

January 29, 2024

Two entomologists in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences have been appointed to serve on a new U.S. Department of Agriculture subcommittee on pollinators.

January 29, 2024

Mushrooms, and specifically the common white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus, are big business in Pennsylvania. The state grows almost two-thirds of all Agaricus produced in the United States. Penn State’s leadership in research and education has shaped and supported the industry since its beginnings. In recent years, however, mushroom-related research at Penn State has expanded, fungus-like, across departments and even colleges into new and surprising areas, from food science to environmental clean-up to architecture and design.

January 29, 2024

Six Penn State researchers who were nominated by the Penn State community for their collaborative, interdisciplinary research efforts were recognized with Institute of Energy and the Environment’s Research Awards.

January 24, 2024

An estimated 1,600 people in the U.S. contract a serious infection from Listeria bacteria in food each year and, of those individuals, about 260 people die, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Penn State researchers may now better understand how the bacteria, called Listeria monocytogenes, survive and persist in fruit-packing plants by evading and surviving sanitizers.  

January 23, 2024

A recent study conducted by researchers at the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness at Penn State found veterans of color and female veterans reported significantly higher levels of stress than their white male counterparts during the COVID-19 pandemic.

January 17, 2024

Funded by a $650,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a team of forest ecologists and social scientists in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences will conduct research aimed at helping owners of small- to medium-sized forest tracts manage their woodlands for ecosystem services they deem desirable.    

January 17, 2024

Having more women in agriculture is associated with greater community well-being, according to researchers at Penn State and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Their work is the first to quantitatively assess this link, and their findings suggest that women farmers approach their operations in ways that positively impact their communities.

January 16, 2024

A team comprised of faculty from five departments in the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences and the Department of Biology in the Eberly College of Science, funded by a $262,500 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has created a novel program to train doctoral degree students to conduct interdisciplinary research on the relationship between soils, plants and consumers.

January 12, 2024

People are willing to live in locations where there is a greater risk of climate-driven extreme weather and natural disasters if there is an increase to their overall economic well-being, according to a study by a Penn State researcher.

January 3, 2024

Honey yields in the U.S. have been declining since the 1990s, with honey producers and scientists unsure why, but a new study by Penn State researchers has uncovered clues in the mystery of the missing honey.

January 3, 2024

The latest episode of Growing Impact discusses how climate change and overuse of the Colorado River have significantly decreased the volume of the fifth largest river in the U.S.

December 15, 2023

Mary Ann Bruns, Penn State professor of soil microbiology and biogeochemistry, co-authored a new report that advocates for greater recognition of the microbial processes involved in methane production and consumption as society seeks solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address climate change.

December 15, 2023

A first-of-its-kind study for North America accumulated a list of potential invasive species for the state of Florida, with 40 species determined to pose the greatest threat to residents’ well-being. One species received the highest possible ranking for likelihood of invasion and threat to human health: the crab-eating macaque monkey.

December 7, 2023

In watersheds degraded by runoff of nutrients from farmland, land managers may struggle to pinpoint the best locations to install riparian buffer strips along streams or other pollution-reduction practices, but a new technology devised by Penn State scientists could potentially make the search for those sites easier and less expensive.

December 6, 2023

The Graduate Training in the Reproductive Microbiomes program will focus on interactions between the microbiome and animal reproductive cells/tissues in agriculturally important species, including chickens, cows, pigs, as well as insect populations that can devastate livestock health and production.