September 28, 2023
Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences has awarded three faculty members with funding to support the development of innovative course curricula through the college’s Harbaugh Faculty Scholars program.
September 22, 2023
Ava Klink, a senior majoring in environmental resource management in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, admits that getting a coveted internship with the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C., is unusual for someone with her educational background.
September 15, 2023
Some scientists believe the Paramos, a grassland ecosystem found in the northern Andes Mountains of South America, are “the world’s fastest evolving and coolest biodiversity hotspot,” according to Estelle Couradeau, assistant professor of soils and environmental microbiology in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences. This ecosystem — which is the prime headwater for lower tropical ecosystems and downstream urban centers in the Andean and the Orinoco-Amazon regions — is in jeopardy, she explained.
September 14, 2023
With a new $650,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Carolyn Lowry, a plant scientist in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, will lead a research team designing cover crop mixtures that are more effective at providing an array of ecosystem services.
September 7, 2023
When dairy cows are fed diets with reduced protein concentrations — aimed at decreased environmental nitrogen pollution from their manure such as nitrate leaching, nutrient-laden run-off and ammonia volatilization — their milk production can suffer. Supplementing the amino acid histidine may help in maintaining, and even increasing, milk and milk-protein yields.
September 6, 2023
In 2012, when the spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) arrived in the U.S. from its home in China, scientists, land managers and growers were concerned that the sap-feeding insect would damage native and commercial trees. New long-term research led by Penn State has revealed that hardwood trees, such as maple, willow and birch, may be less vulnerable than initially thought.
September 1, 2023
Season 4 of the "Growing Impact" podcast opens with an episode that dives into plastic waste, specifically plastic film, and a potential biological solution to help upcycle the material. The episode, which is available on Sept. 1, features Gamini Mendis, assistant professor of engineering at Penn State Behrend; Luciana Aronne, associate teaching professor of chemistry at Penn State Behrend; and Josephine Wee, assistant professor of food science at University Park. The team discusses the challenges of plastic waste handling and how fungi could be a solution that converts plastic into useful products.
August 31, 2023
Kenneth Davis, professor of atmospheric and climate science at Penn State, will lead a team of 23 investigators from 13 research institutions in a new field campaign supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to study surface-atmosphere interactions around Baltimore, Maryland, to see how they influence the city’s climate. The new campaign, called the Coast-Urban-Rural Atmospheric Gradient Experiment (CoURAGE), is expected to start in October 2024 and run through September 2025.
August 30, 2023
A team of Penn State researchers has received a $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation to spearhead a new initiative to create novel monitoring systems for insect populations, many of which are experiencing dramatic changes across the globe due to changes in land use, pollution and climate change.
August 29, 2023
A dairy pricing policy originally proposed at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic could have resulted in dairy farmers getting 10% more for their products if the policy had been passed, according to a Penn State study.
August 28, 2023
Erika Ganda, assistant professor of food animal microbiomes and executive committee member of Penn State’s One Health Microbiome Center, was recently awarded two grants totaling $1.3 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to lead teams of scientists in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Penn State Extension in studies of pathogenic threats to livestock and people.
August 25, 2023
A diet including a carefully selected assortment of microgreens may help address an individual’s nutritional deficiencies, according to a Penn State researcher who led an international team that evaluated the mineral content in young specimens of many different plant species.
August 23, 2023
Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences graduate students received more predoctoral fellowships from the U.S. Department of Agriculture than any other institution over the last five years. This year, five of the 11 recipients worked in the college’s long-term cover crop cocktails experiment.
August 21, 2023
A Penn State livestock emissions expert has received a grant from the Greener Cattle Initiative to develop actionable options to mitigate enteric, or intestinal, methane emissions from cattle — which are produced via belching.
July 25, 2023
Initial findings from a soil testing project launched a year ago in Philadelphia indicate positive news for urban growers — low levels of contaminants and higher than expected levels of nutrients.
July 20, 2023
At a time when Pennsylvania is actively working to achieve water-quality improvements to meet the state’s obligations for cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay, a multidisciplinary Penn State research team is studying whether agricultural pollution-prevention devices called riparian buffers are working properly.
July 14, 2023
Ten Penn State faculty have received Fulbright Scholar Awards for the 2023-24 academic year, according to the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program.
July 14, 2023
Each year, millions of pounds of fireworks illuminate the skies across the United States, captivating audiences with their dazzling displays. What many people may not realize is that perchlorate, a significant ingredient in fireworks, may pose potential health risks to humans and animals.
July 12, 2023
Penn State Extension Master Gardeners triumphed at the International Master Gardener Conference held June 18-22 in Overland Park, Kansas, earning first place in the research category of the David Gibby Search for Excellence Awards for their exceptional volunteer work and dedication to bee monitoring. The conference hosted 1,130 Master Gardeners and extension professionals from 44 U.S. states, Canada and England.
July 11, 2023
Fifteen Penn State research labs have earned My Green Lab certifications at one of the three highest levels available: gold, platinum or green. The certification is recognized by the United Nations as a key measure toward the goal of a zero-carbon future. The Penn State Sustainable Labs Program, launched in 2022, piloted the international certification program at the University, and will welcome 25 new research labs from across the commonwealth to participate in the coming academic year. Applications are due on Aug. 10.
June 29, 2023
Around the globe, forests are facing unprecedented challenges. They're grappling with wildfires, diseases, droughts and deforestation. The survival of these great forests hinges on their ability to regrow — and for many trees, a process called "masting" is key to this regeneration.
June 26, 2023
Penn State’s Center for Pollinator Research hosted the 2023 International Conference on Pollinator Biology, Health and Policy at University Park from June 3–6. Approximately 250 people from 15 countries, spanning universities, government agencies, industry, non-profit organizations and stakeholder groups, traveled to University Park to attend the conference.
June 21, 2023
Isabella Briseño, a recent Penn State graduate who double majored in environmental resource management and political science, was selected as a 2023 Campus Sustainability Champion by the Pennsylvania Environmental Resource Consortium.
June 9, 2023
As part of an ongoing effort to promote soil and water conservation on farms, Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences has launched the Center for Agricultural Conservation Assistance Training in partnership with the Pennsylvania State Conservation Commission and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
May 25, 2023
The tendency of cities to trap heat — a phenomenon called the “urban heat island,” often referred to as the UHI effect — can lead to dangerous temperatures in the summer months, but a new study conducted by Penn State researchers suggests that certain urban factors can reduce this effect.
May 23, 2023
Last summer, on a sweltering July morning, Penn State Harrisburg environmental engineering professor Shirley Clark and two students worked in the yard of the Middletown Area Historical Society on East Main Street.
May 23, 2023
Lara B. Fowler, teaching professor of law at Penn State Law and researcher with expertise centering on water, energy, agriculture and dispute resolution, has been named director of the Sustainability Institute at Penn State and the University’s chief sustainability officer, effective May 15. Fowler has served in both roles on an interim basis since July 1, 2022.
May 18, 2023
Reduce fossil fuel use and air quality will improve, right? It might not be as straightforward as it appears, according to a Penn State-led research team. They explored almost 30,000 simulated future scenarios and found that some climate mitigation efforts could lead to harmful health impacts in certain geographic areas.
May 15, 2023
The Microbiome Center in the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences at Penn State has announced its renaming to the One Health Microbiome Center (OHMC), the first center in the world to integrate "One Health" with the microbiome sciences. The new name reflects the center's collaborative culture and aspirations to write its next chapter in the booming field of the microbiome sciences — the study of microbial communities that live throughout the world's environments.
May 13, 2023
Electric vehicles, or EVs, promise to reduce carbon emissions and serve as a tool to help mitigate climate change, but a team of Penn State researchers report there has been little research to determine how equitable the benefits of EVs are and, in fact, whether the technology may unfairly harm some areas and populations.
