September 2, 2022
A team of researchers is investigating a government policy that increases solar-powered irrigation pumps in India and how the use of solar irrigation pumps may impact India’s highly exploited groundwater reserves and the country’s food and energy production.
August 15, 2022
To honor her mother’s legacy, Tina Terrell committed $80,000 to create the Lucille Terrell MANRRS Scholarship in the College of Agricultural Sciences, designate a scarlet oak in The Arboretum at Penn State as “Lucille’s Tree” and name one of the Arboretum’s future Fountain Garden seat walls in her honor.
July 29, 2022
A team of Penn State researchers has received a $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation to lead a three-institution team developing the “SustainFood Network,” which will link scientists, communities and policymakers in addressing challenges at the nexus of water, energy and food security in Africa.
July 27, 2022
A researcher in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences has received a $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation to lead a three-institution team developing the “Sustainfood Network,” which links scientists, communities and policymakers to address challenges in Africa at the nexus of water, energy and food security.
July 20, 2022
A new genomic study of the rarest pine tree in the world, the Torrey pine, aimed at bolstering the case for a genetic rescue of the species barely surviving in the western U.S., revealed the complexity and risk associated with the endeavor. However, a tree geneticist at Penn State who oversaw the research suggests it may benefit efforts she is involved in to save other species in the East.
July 18, 2022
New members were elected to the Penn State Water Council and a new director of research was announced for the emerging Water Consortium.
July 7, 2022
Fueled by a desire to help those who otherwise may not be able to afford to pursue their education, Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences alumnus Tom Donaldson committed $400,000 from his future estate to create the T.D. Graduate Fellowship in Agricultural Sciences.
June 29, 2022
Penn State students will have the chance to explore Antarctica through a new embedded course, “Antarctica: Human Impacts on a Fragile Environment,” offered in the fall 2023 semester.
June 23, 2022
An international team of 114 scientists, led by Penn State and Northeastern Illinois University, reports the most comprehensive study of aging and longevity to date comprising data collected in the wild from 107 populations of 77 species of reptiles and amphibians worldwide.
June 14, 2022
Marc Abrams, professor of forest ecology and physiology and the Nancy and John Steimer Professor of Agricultural Sciences at Penn State, will retire at the end of June as one of the world’s leading forest ecologists.
June 2, 2022
Three individuals are the recipients of the 2022 Dr. William Henson Diversity Achievement Award from Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, which recognizes distinctive and outstanding teaching, research, extension, or creative work advancing diversity in the college.
May 18, 2022
Eric Burkhart, associate teaching professor of ecosystem science and management, has received a $31,600 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to study and compile wild plant use by foragers in the state.
May 10, 2022
Because so many deer hunters are aging out of the sport — and new hunters are not being recruited to replace them — deer management strategies will need to change to manage populations of whitetails in many states, according to Penn State's Duane Diefenbach, one of the leading white-tailed deer researchers in the country.
April 28, 2022
Penn State and its College of Agricultural Sciences have renamed the Center for Private Forests at Penn State in honor of its founder, the late James C. (Jim) Finley, an outstanding academic scholar and teacher whose pioneering work at the interface of people and forests reached hundreds of thousands of people.
April 27, 2022
Penn State student Dana Sanchez will advance her interest in environmental education when discussing water and nutrient management solutions for Pennsylvania farms impacting the Chesapeake Bay as a presenter at a national conference.
April 25, 2022
Four research teams in the College of Agricultural Sciences have tapped in to the computing and software engineering expertise at the Institute for Computational and Data Sciences' Research Innovations with Scientists and Engineers (RISE) team. Agricultural Sciences faculty are invited to apply for the 2022 SAFES-RISE Seed Grant Program; applications are due May 10.
April 25, 2022
Innovative research showing that populations of a small fish that live in both Iceland’s lakes and marine waters, respond more quickly and differently to predators after they invade freshwater lakes, demonstrating how some animals can adapt rapidly to changes in their environments and may be able to adapt to climate change.
April 11, 2022
Laura Leites, associate research professor of quantitative forest ecology in the College of Agricultural Sciences, is the recipient of the 2022 Rosemary Schraer Mentoring Award.
April 5, 2022
The Penn State chapter of Gamma Sigma Delta, the agricultural honor society, recognized Penn State faculty and students during its annual meeting, which was held March 31.
March 29, 2022
Effects of a nuclear winter or other sky-darkening global catastrophes on farming and agriculture make it "imperative that we better understand our food production, supply and value chains to make them less vulnerable and more adaptable in times of crises," according to Penn State researchers who recently published a timely study on "Food Resilience in a Dark Catastrophe."
March 28, 2022
More than a half-century of research on the use of treated wastewater for irrigation and groundwater recharge will be the focus of a three-day conference hosted by Penn State April 5-7 at the Wyndham Garden hotel in Boalsburg. The conference will highlight Penn State's "Living Filter," a year-round spray irrigation system that recycles the University's treated effluent.
March 25, 2022
If average temperatures rise as projected in eastern North America in coming decades, at least one widespread amphibian species likely will be unable to adjust, and its range may shift northward, according to a new study led by Penn State scientists.
March 21, 2022
A team of Penn State researchers will develop a long-term solution for the testing and management of urban soils for the safe production of garden and food crops in urban settings, funded by a $100,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.
March 3, 2022
Christopher Scott's vast experience and expertise in water, climate change, energy, policy, sustainability and agriculture has led to Scott’s appointment to the Maurice K. Goddard Chair of Forestry and Environmental Conservation at Penn State.
February 23, 2022
Tom and Mary Jo Young pledged a $3.2 million estate gift to create the Woodland Gardens at The Arboretum at Penn State with a supporting endowment, as well as an undergraduate scholarship in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management.
February 14, 2022
Seven students in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences have received predoctoral fellowships from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The students received a combined total of nearly $1.1 million — the most received for this year's fellowships among U.S. universities.
February 8, 2022
A century after scientists first noted that the environment contributes to the evolution of adaptive differences among plant populations, scientists are on the verge of figuring out how that adaptation happens — by combining results from huge “common garden” experiments with genomic sequencing.
January 26, 2022
Since the 1990s, scientists have been predicting that North American tree species will disappear from portions of their ranges within the next 50 to 100 years because of projected changes in climate. A new study led by Penn State forest biologists found that when transplanted to warmer environments, ash trees can survive increased temperatures of 7 degrees Fahrenheit and sometimes even up to 18 degrees Fahrenheit, suggesting that these trees may be more resilient to climate warming than previously believed.
January 26, 2022
Five Penn State faculty members in areas ranging from the ecology and evolution of fish and coral reef ecology to bone regeneration and intrinsically disordered proteins have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world's largest general scientific society. This year a total of 564 individuals are being recognized with this lifetime honor, bestowed by their peers, for their extraordinary achievements in advancing science.
January 25, 2022
Although tropical forest ecosystems around the world have been modified and fragmented by agroforests planted to produce commodities such as coffee, rubber and areca palm, amphibian communities can survive in those transformed landscapes — if the agroforests are managed to support biodiversity.
