December 12, 2024
Mental health challenges are a significant and growing concern for the nation’s farmers, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. As much as farming is often a family affair, programs and resources to support mental health in agriculture have focused on the primary producers, of whom nearly 64% are men. Women have always played a crucial role in agriculture, yet, Penn State Associate Professor Florence Becot said, their mental health and well-being — much like their essential contributions to agriculture — largely have been overlooked.
December 10, 2024
Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences celebrated another year of outstanding success and accomplishments in research during the 2024 Research Awards Ceremony, held Nov. 19 at the Hintz Family Alumni Center on the University Park campus.
December 9, 2024
Dr. Cibin Raj and his co-authors recently received the High-Impact Research Publication Award Ceremony that was held at the Hintz Alumni Center.
December 6, 2024
Three faculty members in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences recently were recognized for their exemplary work in teaching as recipients of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2024 National Teaching Awards for Food and Agricultural Sciences.
December 2, 2024
A delegation of Penn State faculty and graduate students who attended the 2024 United Nations Biodiversity Conference, known as COP16, in Cali, Colombia, share about the event and their experiences.
November 27, 2024
The Sustainable Communities Collaborative (SCC) at Penn State Sustainability has coordinated a record number of partnership projects with the Borough of State College this semester. The SCC pairs Penn State classes from across disciplines with communities on partner-identified and defined community projects.
November 26, 2024
Able to store carbon to offset emissions and prevent soil degradation and pollution, charcoal-like biochar could offer a sustainable solution to a lot of environmental challenges — if its production can be made greener. Supported by a three-year, $799,883 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture, an international team led by researchers at Penn State will address the so-called “dark side” of biochar, assessing the threat of organic contaminant residues in biorefinery char products.
November 22, 2024
Pollutants known as “contaminants of emerging concern” or chemicals that could potentially harm human health and have been found in the environment, including pesticides, ingredients from personal care products, pharmaceuticals and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), are increasingly found in streams and lakes. A team led by researchers at Penn State recently demonstrated the accuracy and utility of a new method to find even very low levels of these substances in surface waters. They reported their findings in the Science of the Total Environment.
November 21, 2024
October 29, 2024
This is a full-time non-academic staff (Lab Coordinator-Engineering-Intermediate Professional) position.
October 25, 2024
One of the most traditionally time-consuming, labor-intensive processes of apple production is blossom thinning, which involves manually pruning flowers so that remaining blooms can reclaim the plant’s resources to grow better fruit. More recently, the process has shifted to broad chemical spraying, which can have harmful environmental impacts. To assist producers and mitigate environmental harm, the USDA has awarded a three-year, $601,125 grant to a team of Penn State researchers for the development of a robotic precision spraying system.
October 9, 2024
Two faculty members in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, Ali Demirci and Juliana Vasco-Correa, recently received awards from the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.
September 12, 2024
Nine Penn State researchers have been named fellows of the Institute of Energy and the Environment for 2024. The program recognizes and assists the exceptional achievements and unparalleled research impacts of highly successful researchers in the areas of energy and the environment. Nominees for the fellowship were submitted by the University community.
August 26, 2024
Nitrate, a common chemical compound that occurs naturally and is found in plants, water and soil, can break down into molecules harmful to human, animal and ecological health and accumulate as a pollutant. Nitrate contamination in streams, lakes and estuaries is a critical problem in many agricultural watersheds, but water-quality data is limited, making monitoring stream health and making management decisions difficult, according to researchers at Penn State. To enhance available data, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded a four-year, $650,000 grant to a research team at Penn State.
August 21, 2024
Pesticides reduce crop loss, helping to stabilize production, but excessive use of pesticides has brought huge negative impacts to the environment and human health, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. To address the problem, a team of Penn State researchers is developing a robotic precision pesticide sprayer capable of targeted application while minimizing unintended exposure.
August 20, 2024
Faculty and Staff congratulate our Summer 2024 Graduates
August 7, 2024
Long He, assistant professor of agricultural and biological engineering, and colleagues in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences recently received a 2024 Superior Paper Award from the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers for their research presentation titled, “An Advanced Robotic System for Precision Chemical Thinning of Apple Blossoms.”
July 30, 2024
Childcare challenges might not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about farm business viability, yet according to a new study led by a Penn State researcher, childcare challenges can negatively impact farm businesses and the farm family. The findings were reported in Agriculture and Human Values.
July 30, 2024
A team of researchers in the Penn State College of Engineering was awarded a five-year, $1 million grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation to study how undergraduate engineering students learn and develop into energy-literate engineers as they engage with long-term research experiences centered on decarbonization.
July 24, 2024
There will be a lot going on in and around the J.D. Harrington Crops, Soils and Conservation Building at Penn State’s Ag Progress Days, Aug. 13-15. Exhibits and activities will feature crop management, renewable energy, conservation education and planting demonstrations, as well as the signature hay show.
July 18, 2024
As the number of major utility-scale ground solar panel installations grows, concerns about their impacts on natural hydrologic processes also have grown. However, a new study by Penn State researchers suggests that excess runoff or increased erosion can be easily mitigated — if these “solar farms” are properly built.
July 17, 2024
Interested in exploring safety topics central to the everyday lives of farmers, farm workers and their families? Visitors to the Farm Safety Demonstration Area at Penn State’s Ag Progress Days, Aug. 13-15, can learn about the hazards of all-terrain vehicles and ways to minimize the risk of rollovers.
June 12, 2024
To ensure the continued support and growth of the agricultural safety and health program in the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences, Dennis Murphy and his wife, Christy, have committed the payout of a life insurance policy to bolster the Endowment for Agricultural Safety and Health in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering.
May 14, 2024
Weiyun Hua, a PhD student in Penn State's Department of Agriculture and Biological Engineering program, designed a smart agriculture robot to heat fruit orchards efficiently. It has the potential to save farmers time, energy costs, and lost revenue from frost damaged crops. Weiyun is one of many researchers across the globe imagining the future farming technologies needed to address the challenges of climate change, which include unpredictable temperatures.
May 8, 2024
Faculty and Staff congratulate our Spring 2024 Graduates
May 8, 2024
Florence Becot recently was appointed Nationwide Insurance Early Career Professor of Agricultural Safety and Health in the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences. She will oversee research, extension and academic programs in safety and health related to the agricultural and the biorenewable industries.
April 25, 2024
bioWatch took first place in the Nittany AI Challenge 2024!
April 23, 2024
Britta Teller and Evan Stover are the co-founders of Steller Floors, a sustainable hardwood floor startup based out of Tyrone. They are regular users of OriginLabs, Invent Penn State's prototyping and fabrication space in State College.
April 22, 2024
Two Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences faculty members and an assistant director with Penn State Extension recently furthered their knowledge of leadership principles by completing the LEAD21 leadership development program, a national yearlong program to develop leaders in land-grant institutions and their strategic partners who link research, academics and extension and can navigate an increasingly complex environment to lead more effectively in their current or future leadership positions.
April 17, 2024
Students from across the University are being honored for their extraordinary contributions to sustainability initiatives
