News

Twenty-two students receive NSF Graduate Research Fellowships

Three Huck graduate students are among twenty-two Penn State student recipients of the prestigious grant program for the 2024-25 academic year.

New tomato, potato family tree shows that fruit color and size evolved together

Fruits of Solanum plants, a group in the nightshade family, are incredibly diverse, ranging from sizable red tomatoes and purple eggplants to the poisonous green berries on potato plants. A new and improved family tree of this group, produced by an international team led by researchers at Penn State, helps explain the striking diversity of fruit colors and sizes and how they might have evolved.

Unexpected diversity of light-sensing proteins goes beyond vision in frogs

Frogs have maintained a surprising diversity of light-sensing proteins over evolutionary time, according to a new study led by a Penn State researcher. Light-sensing proteins, called opsins, enable vision in sighted animals, and are responsible for many more biological functions like regulating circadian rhythms. The researchers explored the evolution of nonvisual opsins in frogs, finding that most modern species examined in this study retained a shocking number of these proteins.

The study may provide beekeepers with information to help make decisions about managing their colonies to combat these high colony losses during the winter. Credit: Annie Spratt/Unsplash. All Rights Reserved.

Combining pest treatments may be key to helping honey bees survive the winter

Winters can be tough on managed honey bee colonies, with beekeepers in the United States reporting that one-third of their colonies die each winter. A new study by Penn State researchers has found that using not one but multiple pest treatments may help bees make it to spring.

Local disparities may prevent national vaccination efforts for rubella

When public health officials make policies about when and how vaccination programs are implemented, they must weigh the benefits and risks of how infectious diseases spread throughout the country. However, these analyses are often based on national-level data and, in some countries, may overlook nuances at the local level.

Huck trainees recognized at graduate school awards

Four Huck graduate students were recognized with distinctions at the recent 2023-24 Graduate Student Awards, hosted by the Graduate School at Penn State.

Tracy Langkilde appointed interim executive vice president and provost

Tracy Langkilde, the Verne M. Willaman Dean of the Eberly College of Science, has been named interim executive vice president and provost of Penn State, effective April 15. Langkilde succeeds Executive Vice President and Provost Justin Schwartz, who has been named as the sole finalist for chancellor of the University of Colorado Boulder and will depart Penn State this summer.

Forty graduate students honored with prestigious University awards

Forty Penn State graduate students were named recipients of Penn State’s most prestigious annual graduate student recognition awards, administered by the Graduate School in collaboration with several Penn State units.

Penn State biologist David Toews receives 2024 NSF CAREER Award

David Toews, assistant professor of biology, has been honored with a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award from the U.S. National Science Foundation.

Three Ecology students receive Ag Sci awards

A trio of graduate researchers from the Huck's Ecology program were recently honored by the College of Agricultural Sciences.