News

Pollinator project supports biodiversity at Penn State Orchard Road solar array

An innovative project is creating a buzz around Penn State’s University Park campus, especially among the many species of pollinators that call Centre County home.

School of Hospitality Management develops profit planning tool for restaurants

During the easiest of times, restaurant operators are extremely busy. Now, as the COVID-19 pandemic and related governmental restrictions disrupt the restaurant industry, operating a restaurant is even more challenging, fraught, and time-consuming. To help restaurant operators weather this period of extreme instability, researchers in Penn State’s School of Hospitality Management developed an easy-to-use, profit planning tool.

Biomedical engineering graduate student receives Blue Flame Award

Lauren Randolph, a graduate research assistant in biomedical engineering at Penn State, has received the Blue Flame Award, given by Addgene, a non-profit plasmid repository. Addgene presents the award to researchers with at least one plasmid deposited at Addgene that has been distributed to other researchers more than 100 times.

Vietnam farmers' poultry sales during outbreaks may increase virus transmission

Small-scale poultry farmers in Vietnam tend to respond to viral outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) by rapidly selling their birds as a way to avoid financial loss, according to a new study by an international team of researchers. As these birds are commingled with other birds in markets and trading networks, this practice may increase the likelihood of widespread disease transmission.

Penn State black walnut trial turns 40, now ideal climate-change experiment

Visitors to Penn State’s University Park campus often arrive with a short list of attractions they want to see. Among the most popular are the Nittany Lion Shrine, the Berkey Creamery and The Arboretum at Penn State. However, few are aware of the Black Walnut Provenance Study, let alone care to visit it.

Measles outbreaks in Niger linked to rainfall and temperature, study finds

Rainfall and temperature drive agricultural activity, which, in turn, influences patterns of measles outbreaks in the West African nation of Niger, according to an international team of researchers. The findings may be useful for improving vaccine coverage for seasonally mobile populations within Niger and other countries.

Advanced biofuels show promise for replacing some fossil fuels

Plant-based biofuels can play a key role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and removing excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and growing these crops in certain landscapes offers net climate benefits compared to other land use options, according to a team of international scientists.

Grant to enable creation of AI tools to improve adolescents' diets and nutrition

With a $1.2 million grant from Fondation Botnar, an international team of researchers will assess the feasibility of creating and launching a global-scale artificial-intelligence (AI) app for mobile devices that diagnoses diet-related problems and offers nutritional advice to adolescent girls living in urban settings in Ghana and Vietnam.

Faculty funded to study how people's movement impacts COVID-19 transmission

Nita Bharti, Lloyd Huck Early Career Professor and assistant professor of biology at Penn State, and her collaborator Anthony Robinson, associate professor of geography at Penn State, have been awarded seed funding from the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences at Penn State to study how monitoring the movement of people can potentially be used as a predictor or early indicator of COVID-19 transmission and guide health policy decisions.

Bull elected fellow of American Phytopathological Society

Carolee Bull, professor of systematic bacteriology and plant pathology in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, has been elected as a fellow of the American Phytopathological Society, an honor given to members in recognition of distinguished contributions to the discipline of plant pathology.