October 15, 2020
Researchers in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences have developed an important component of a new system that corn growers can use to adjust nitrogen fertilizer applications based on site-specific measurements of cover crops and soil organic matter.
October 2, 2020
Allowing farmers to harvest vegetation from their riparian buffers will not significantly impede the ability of those streamside tracts to protect water quality by capturing nutrients and sediment — and it will boost farmers’ willingness to establish buffers. That is the conclusion of Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences researchers, who compared the impacts of six riparian buffer design scenarios over two, four-year crop rotations in two small central and southeastern Pennsylvania watersheds.
September 9, 2020
SAFES is currently hiring three new positions: Research Initiatives Associate, Administrative Support Coordinator, and Program Financial Assistant. Read more about these exciting new roles in the institute and follow links to apply.
September 8, 2020
Water Insights is an interdisciplinary seminar series on water science, water management, and water policy sponsored by the Environment and Natural Resources Institute. Speakers include researchers, water managers, and water policy makers from Penn State, other universities, government agencies and non-governmental organizations. Join the seminars via Zoom every Tuesday from 12-1 pm.
September 8, 2020
A newly launched center at Penn State will create a focal point for the study and conservation of insects and the ecosystems with which they interact. The Insect Biodiversity Center brings together faculty researchers and educators from eight Penn State colleges, with a goal to celebrate insect diversity in science and practice.
August 26, 2020
Junior Matthew Bellia, an Environmental Resource Management major in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, spent his summer completing a research-based internship with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.
August 5, 2020
Today, as our nation and the world struggle to fight COVID-19, medical professionals are working tirelessly to understand the virus, heal stricken people, and develop an effective vaccine. At the same time, agricultural professionals are rapidly responding to protect our farmworkers and the food system. Penn State University recently ran an internal grant competition through the newly formed Institute for Sustainable Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Science (SAFES), asking faculty to think about the impacts of the pandemic on agriculture and the environment. The response was strong.
July 29, 2020
Agricultural systems in metropolitan regions and in adjacent, nonmetro counties account for more than two-thirds of U.S. net farm income and 97% of net farm income in Pennsylvania. But can food systems in these urbanized landscapes remain economically and environmentally sustainable in the face of development pressure and perceived disamenities associated with agriculture? A team led by Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences researchers is almost a year into a five-year study aimed at providing answers to this question.
July 21, 2020
Transdisciplinary research team aims to create new value chains on U.S. farms, with emphasis on the generation of renewable natural gas, improved rural economic outcomes and protection of the environment.
July 9, 2020
A team of researchers led by a Penn State agricultural economist will receive $500,000 over three years to study agritourism in the United States and to develop research-based information and guidance for farmers looking to diversify their incomes through agritourism activities.
July 6, 2020
Thanks to a $1 million gift from an anonymous donor, the College of Agricultural Sciences and the Department of Entomology have established the Publius Vergilius Maro Professorship. Designated for a faculty affiliate of the Center for Pollinator Research, the endowment is the fourth professorship for the Department of Entomology. Christina Grozinger, professor and director of the Center for Pollinator Research, has been appointed to the position, effective July 1.
June 9, 2020
Tammy Shannon, academic advising coordinator for the environmental resource management program, has received the 2020 Excellence in Academic Advising Award from Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences.
June 1, 2020
From the Harrisburg Patriot-News (PennLive): Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences was establishing its new Institute for Sustainable Agricultural, Food and Environmental Science even before the coronavirus pandemic emerged.
May 20, 2020
The seed for Penn State’s Institute for Sustainable Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Science was planted well before the COVID-19 outbreak. The concept had been growing in the College of Agricultural Sciences for about two years when the pandemic emerged.
May 14, 2020
An online network that connects producers, suppliers, processors and workers along Pennsylvania’s food supply chain was launched today by Penn State to minimize bottlenecks and avoid breakdowns that lead to food shortages.
May 4, 2020
If warming continues unabated in the Midwest, in 50 years we can expect the best conditions for corn and soybean production to have shifted from Iowa and Illinois to Minnesota and the Dakotas, according to Penn State researchers.
April 28, 2020
Trees, shrubs and woody vines are among the top food sources for honey bees in urban environments, according to an international team of researchers. By using honey bees housed in rooftop apiaries in Philadelphia, the researchers identified the plant species from which the honey bees collected most of their food, and tracked how these food resources changed from spring to fall. The findings may be useful to homeowners, beekeepers and urban land managers who wish to sustain honey bees and other bee and pollinator species.
March 17, 2020
Pesticide-coated seeds — such as neonicotinoids, many of which are highly toxic to both pest and beneficial insects — are increasingly used in the major field crops, but are underreported, in part, because farmers often do not know what pesticides are on their seeds, according to an international team of researchers. The lack of data may complicate efforts to evaluate the value of different pest management strategies, while also protecting human health and the environment.
February 26, 2020
Several agricultural and governmental organizations have partnered to develop a survey that asks producers to document conservation practices they have adopted to promote water quality and soil health in the bay watershed.
February 4, 2020
Jessica Chou didn’t set out to join the Student Farm Club. An environmental resource management major in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, Chou wasted no time in getting involved. By the spring semester of her freshman year, she was working as a paid production intern at the Student Farm. She then served as the club’s engagement director before being elected to her current position as its executive director.
January 16, 2020
Urban growth boundaries are created by governments in an effort to concentrate urban development — buildings, roads and the utilities that support them — within a defined area. These boundaries are intended to decrease negative impacts on people and the environment. However, according to a Penn State researcher, policies that aim to reduce urban sprawl may be increasing water pollution.
November 14, 2019
For many first-generation college students, study abroad experiences seem out of reach. However, a new course offered by the Environmental Resource Management (ERM) program in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences aims to make that aspiration a reality.
November 12, 2019
Emma Steely, a first-year environmental resource management student in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, had the opportunity to travel to Costa Rica through her participation in the Pennsylvania School for Excellence in the Agricultural Sciences at Penn State.
July 3, 2019
Jessica Briggs, a junior in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, received the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship this spring.
