Institute for Sustainable Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Science (SAFES)
An interdisciplinary, science-to-practice platform to study landscape-level challenges
The Institute for Sustainable Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Science (SAFES) establishes a novel environment for accelerating solutions to persistently "wicked" landscape-level challenges centered on agriculture, food, and the environment. The science of agricultural sustainability underpins the mission of SAFES and provides a comprehensive approach to the complexity of challenges which integrates natural and social sciences with technological advancements, human behavior, economics, and policy.
SAFES integrates agriculturally and environmentally related disciplines to develop holistic approaches for tackling "wicked" challenges.
SAFES trains the next generation of researchers, educators, practitioners, and policymakers in integrating information from across domains and using science-based data for decision making.
SAFES shortens the distance between science and practice by actively connecting biophysical scientists with sociologists, communication scientists and educators. This work is led by the Agriculture and Environment Center through a shared discovery engagement process.
Latest News
August 27, 2025
Fine-tuning Zinc Supplementation, Light Exposure to Boost Microgreens' Nutrition
Microgreens, which are young, edible plants that only take one to three weeks to harvest, are more than garnish at trendy restaurants — they could be the answer to global hunger, according to plant scientists at Penn State. Already densely packed with nutrients, microgreens can be made even more nutritious with a couple of minor growing adjustments. The research team that has experimented with different approaches for five years recently published the results of two new studies quantifying the nutritional results of supplementing microgreens with varied amounts of zinc during their growth, called agronomic biofortification, and exposing the plants to different amounts of light.
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August 26, 2025
Bacteria Strains Infecting Cattle and Humans in US are Highly Similar
Salmonella Dublin, a type of bacteria that primarily infects cattle but some strains also can adapt to infect humans, is increasingly becoming resistant to antibiotics, making it a growing public health threat, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Researchers at Penn State investigated how strains of the pathogen — which can cause severe illness and death in cattle and blood infections and hospitalization in humans are evolving and spreading across humans, cattle and the environment in the United States.
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August 5, 2025
Researchers Team Up with Indigenous Communities in Ecuador to Study Oil Pollution
For years, the Amazon rainforests of Ecuador have been at the center of a complex and ongoing struggle over land rights and the oil reserves beneath the surface. At the heart of the debate lies a critical tension between economic development and environmental protection. Proponents of oil extraction argue it offers a vital opportunity to boost national revenue, while opponents warn of the irreversible environmental damage and health impacts such activities could cause. On the latest episode of "Growing Impact," a team of Penn State researchers discusses how their seed grant project aims to identify environmental impacts from the oil extraction process.
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July 23, 2025
Simulating the Unthinkable: Models Show Nuclear Winter Food Production Plunge
Researchers use Penn State’s Cycles agroecosystem model to predict how nuclear war ramifications would impact crops; recommend preparing 'agricultural resilience kits.'
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