Latest News

June 3, 2025

The key to trees' ability to adapt to varied growing conditions and, ultimately, their survival, may reside in the complex genetic makeup of replacement trees, according to forest geneticists tasked with reintroducing tree species. A study of one of the rarest pine trees in the world, Torrey pine, conducted by a team including Penn State scientists, has yielded what the researchers called valuable insight into the value of genetic diversity and the importance of ensuring locally adapted diversity is maintained for restoration.

May 29, 2025

What started as free tickets to see a flamenco fusion band in Spain turned into an unexpected research opportunity for a team of researchers at Penn State, who discovered a unique example of the power of music to bridge generational divides.

May 23, 2025

Penn State undergraduates Charlie Colvin and Megan von Abo were named 2025 Astronaut Scholars, earning competitive national scholarships facilitated by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation. The scholarships provide up to $15,000 toward education for undergraduate students pursuing careers in engineering, math, or natural or applied sciences research.

May 23, 2025

Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences will convene leaders from academia, industry, government and stakeholder networks for a symposium focused on accelerating agricultural innovation through cross-sector collaboration. The event will take place June 12-13 at Penn State University Park.

May 21, 2025

Throwing a little heat on your meal might be an effective strategy for cutting back on calories, according to a new study led by researchers at Penn State.

May 19, 2025

Penn State’s Cocoziello Institute of Real Estate Innovation has awarded seed grants to five interdisciplinary research projects. These grants support collaborative projects led by Penn State faculty who aim to generate innovative solutions to complex challenges in real estate and the built environment. 

May 19, 2025

Increasing renewable energy may not reduce the use of fossil fuels in the United States, according to a study by Ryan Thombs, assistant professor of rural sociology in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences.

May 8, 2025

A debate continues among scientists over whether tree composition in forests in eastern North American historically have been influenced more by climate or by cultural burning, which is the intentional and controlled use of fire by Indigenous people to manage their environment. Now, a new study of southern New England forests by a team including a researcher from Penn State lends credence to the cultural burning hypothesis, suggesting that fire-tolerant vegetation — oak, hickory and pine — were significantly more abundant near Indigenous settlements over the last 5,000 years.

May 8, 2025

While the effects of the housing crisis and the environmental impacts of debris generated in the construction sector persist in the United States, two projects led by Penn State Stuckeman School architecture professors have earned funding to develop new methods to address these challenges while also bolstering the manufacturing industry in Pennsylvania.

May 7, 2025

Conservation programs aimed at boosting environmentally friendly practices by incentivizing farmers may get more bang for their buck by targeting rural farms rather than more urban ones, according to a study led by researchers at Penn State.

May 7, 2025

What do chickens and people with a common reproductive disorder have in common? More than one might think — and a widely-used diabetes medication might just be the surprising link.

May 6, 2025

Three Penn State undergraduate students who have been part of the University’s Sustainable Labs Program were invited to Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Janelia Research Campus in April to help make the facility’s research labs more sustainable. Ella Clobes, Gavin Maxson and Kay Smith, all members of the program’s Sustainable Lab Consultant cohort, advised researchers on how to implement changes to evaluate and improve lab efficiency and resource management.  

May 6, 2025

Mental health counseling may help U.S. veterans recover and build resilience after experiencing military sexual trauma, according to a new study from research at Penn State.  

April 25, 2025

A team of researchers in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences is addressing the growing interest among tree fruit growers in Pennsylvania and the Northeast in adopting drone-based spraying systems for high-density apple and peach orchards. The Northeast Region of the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture recently awarded the team two grants to support the work.

April 25, 2025

Despite a long history of traditional medicinal use in the United States, the collection, consumption and efficacy of the peculiar forest plant aptly named ghost pipe, scientific name Monotropa uniflora, remains a mystery. Now, with social media and the internet driving a resurgence in the harvest and economic trade of the parasitic species — which appears strangely white because it is devoid of chlorophyl — a research team from Penn State has taken the first step toward documenting its new status.

April 25, 2025

Penn State Sustainability has announced the 2025 recipients of its sustainability awards. These accolades, including the John Roe Sustainability Impact Award, the Student Sustainability Advisory Council Tree Award and the Pennsylvania Environmental Resource Consortium Campus Sustainability Champion Award, commend the extraordinary contributions of students in spearheading sustainability initiatives.

April 24, 2025

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recently appointed Christina Grozinger, Publius Vergilius Maro Professor of Entomology and director of the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences at Penn State, to an 18-member study committee to examine the status of insects in North America. 

April 22, 2025

The Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology selected six projects to receive funding from the college’s seed grant program, which provides funding to support research activities and generate preliminary results that will eventually lead to bigger projects involving external funding.

April 22, 2025

Seeing the “huge juxtaposition” between streams flowing near her childhood home in Lancaster County impaired by pollution from intensive agriculture and the seemingly pristine creeks tumbling down the forested mountains around her family’s cabin in Mifflin County led Bridget Reheard to study how contaminants in waters affect aquatic organisms and aspirations for a career working to protect natural resources.

April 15, 2025

Increased soil salinity can reduce damage from prominent tomato pests such as the tomato fruitworm, according to researchers at Penn State.

April 14, 2025

The Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness at Penn State has received $1.4 million from the  U.S. Air Force for a major initiative to expand access for airmen and their families to evidence-informed parenting programs to strengthen military family resilience and well-being.

April 9, 2025

Insecticides can help protect crops against troublesome pests, but they also pose a risk for beneficial insects such as pollinators. A new study led by researchers at Penn State provided insight into how even sublethal doses of insecticides can negatively affect pollinators by disrupting the mating process.

April 8, 2025

Despite U.S. per capita-milk consumption falling significantly in recent decades, according to the U.S. Department of Agricultural, Americans are consuming a record amount of dairy in butter and cheese — products made from milk fat. In a new study, a team led by researchers at Penn State demonstrated that supplementing dairy cattle feed with 15% whole cottonseed, a byproduct of processing cotton for fiber, can increase milk fat concentration and yield.

April 4, 2025

Thirty-one graduate students received awards at the 2025 Graduate Exhibition, a professional development event designed to help graduate students hone their skills with communicating research and creative scholarship to a general audience. 

April 4, 2025

Forty-two graduate students received Penn State's annual recognition awards that celebrate students' impact in research, scholarship, teaching, outreach, mentoring and more.

April 3, 2025

The scent of blooming flowers and fresh plant life is not just a perk of springtime; it is a key driver in the survival and evolution of butterflies and moths. New research led by scientists at Penn State reveals how the daily cycles of plant aromas are linked to the dietary habits and evolution of the winged insects collectively known as Lepidoptera.

April 1, 2025

On the latest episode of “Growing Impact,” a team of Penn State researchers discusses how their seed grant project aims to address nitrous oxide emissions from the agricultural sector.

April 1, 2025

While rural areas are more dependent on manufacturing than their urban peers, they are less likely to participate in global markets. Researchers at Penn State have identified several factors that explain why, with differences in innovation capacity —  the share of workers in occupations associated with greater patent production and the extent to which a location fosters inter-industry idea exchange — playing the most significant role.