Latest News

April 1, 2019

The round goby — a small, extremely prolific, invasive fish from Europe — poses a threat to endangered freshwater mussels in northwestern Pennsylvania's French Creek, one of the last strongholds for two species of mussels, according to researchers.

April 1, 2019

Beescape.org provides a tool for beekeepers, gardeners, growers and land managers to assess the quality of their landscapes for supporting managed honey bees and wild bees. It was developed through a partnership led by Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, Center for Pollinator Research and Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences.

March 27, 2019

A new report issued today (March 27) shows how U.S. farmers — facing a surge of weather events and disease outbreaks — can increase production and revenues with innovations produced by federally funded agricultural research, including studies performed in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.

March 26, 2019

A new technique to spin starch fibers using Lego pieces could have future applications for lab-grown "clean" meat, according to a team of food scientists from Penn State and the University of Alabama.

March 25, 2019

A system that helps tree-fruit growers avoid frost damage to their crops by using unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, and ground-based robots could be on the horizon, thanks to Penn State researchers, supported by funding from the National Science Foundation.

March 22, 2019

The Appalachian communities that enjoyed persistent economic growth following the 2008 Great Recession have a number of factors in common, according to researchers who analyzed all 420 counties in the Appalachian region. Their findings will help guide future economic development strategies across Appalachia.

March 18, 2019

It's a long way from Shanerburg Run, not far from Williamsport, Pennsylvania, to the closest shores of the Chesapeake Bay … about 200 miles. And yet the stream — or more precisely the studies Penn State researchers are conducting on the eastern brook trout it harbors — will be highlighted in a new film about the estuary and its watershed.

March 12, 2019

The link between gender and innovative energy use for food preparation is explored in a new book, “Recovering Bioenergy in Sub-Saharan Africa: Gender Dimensions, Lessons and Challenges,” co-edited by Ruth Mendum, assistant research professor for gender initiatives in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, and Mary Njenga, research scientist at the World Agroforestry Centre.

March 12, 2019

An extract from the seeds of avocados exhibited anti-inflammatory properties in a laboratory study, according to Penn State researchers, and it represents a potential source for novel anti-inflammatory compounds that could be developed as a functional food ingredient or pharmaceuticals.

March 6, 2019

Consumer preference or aversion to wines made from native grapes — such as Concord, Niagara and Catawba, which are grown in North America — may depend on early exposure to the fruits' sweet, ultra "grapey" taste and aroma, according to researchers who conducted sensory tests with wine drinkers in Pennsylvania and California.

February 27, 2019

Returning to civilian life can be challenging for veterans. While there are many programs and services aimed at helping them readjust, some veterans do not take advantage of these supportive resources. A Penn State-led research team examined factors that are associated with program non-use among veterans who recently left active duty service.

February 26, 2019

Pests and diseases are taking a substantial bite out of the world’s five major food crops — in some cases, up to 40 percent — according to a recently released publication, one of the first to inventory the impact on a global scale.

February 25, 2019

Carabid beetles produce caustic chemicals they spray to defend themselves against predators, and the compound that protects their bodies from these toxic substances shows promise for use in bioengineering or biomedical applications, according to Penn State researchers.

February 13, 2019

Employing advanced genetic-tracing techniques and sharing the data produced in real time could limit the spread of bacteria — Bacillus cereus — which cause foodborne illness, according to researchers who implemented whole-genome sequencing of a pathogen-outbreak investigation.

February 13, 2019

It all began when Penn State Berks Professor Michael Fidanza was approached in 2018 by researchers from the College of Agriculture Sciences who needed a site to conduct a preliminary investigation on the biology and life cycle of the spotted lanternfly.

February 7, 2019

The abilities of various bee species to disperse influences the pattern of their population's genetic structure, which, in turn, can constrain how they respond to environmental change, as reported by an international team of researchers.

February 6, 2019

Widespread adoption by dairy farmers of injecting manure into the soil instead of spreading it on the surface could be crucial to restoring Chesapeake Bay water quality, according to researchers who compared phosphorus runoff from fields treated by both methods. However, they predict it will be difficult to persuade farmers to change practices.

January 31, 2019

The Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness at Penn State is leading a research team that is collecting information from recent veterans to better understand their use and non-use of programs and services that assist veterans to make healthy transitions from military to civilian life.

January 24, 2019

Two students in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences are the recipients of the Guyton Award, a global learning scholarship established recently by Bill Guyton, an agricultural economist and internationally recognized expert in sustainable development.

January 22, 2019

Designating relatively small parcels of land as protected areas for wildlife with no habitat management — which has frequently been done in urban-suburban locales around the world — likely does not benefit declining songbird species, according to a team of researchers who studied a long-protected northeastern virgin forest plot.

January 17, 2019

In discovering a mutant gene that "turns on" another gene responsible for the red pigments sometimes seen in corn, researchers solved an almost six-decades-old mystery with a finding that may have implications for plant breeding in the future.

January 17, 2019

Changes in the distribution of Pennsylvania's population — largely toward the state's southeastern quadrant — reflect challenges that policymakers need to address to promote and maintain statewide prosperity, suggests a new report compiled by economists in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.

January 15, 2019

As a food science major in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, Andrew Cotter conducted research on the storage of coffee beans. He showed that storing roasted coffee beans in the freezer — a popular preservation method — can help preserve the aroma of certain varieties of beans.

January 14, 2019

A cellular protein that interacts with invading viruses appears to help enable the infection process of the Zika virus, according to an international team of researchers who suggest this protein could be a key target in developing new therapies to prevent or treat Zika virus infection.

January 8, 2019

The Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness at Penn State was recently awarded a $1.5 million grant from the Military Suicide Research Consortium (MSRC) to enhance suicide prevention efforts in the U.S. Air Force.

January 3, 2019

A natural antioxidant found in grain bran could preserve food longer and replace synthetic antioxidants currently used by the food industry, according to researchers at Penn State.

December 20, 2018

The amount and composition of milk produced by dairy cows appears to be more regulated by internal, annual biological rhythms than by environmental factors such as heat and humidity, according to Penn State researchers who studied more than a decade of production records from herds across the country.

December 19, 2018

Faculty in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences are spearheading an initiative that will provide selected doctoral students with the opportunity for extensive study on gender and its relationship to agricultural production.

December 18, 2018

Harvester ants that eat weed seeds on the soil's surface can help farmers manage weeds on their farms, according to an international team of researchers, who found that tilling less to preserve the ants could save farmers fuel and labor costs, as well as preserve water and improve soil quality.

December 17, 2018

A biodegradable, edible film made with plant starch and antimicrobial compounds may control the growth of foodborne pathogens on seafood, according to a group of international researchers.