The Plant Institute connects researchers from diverse fields to study all aspects of plants: from their evolutionary histories, genetics, and physical structures to the other organisms that interact with them, on scales ranging from the molecular to global. Our approach consciously encourages cross-disciplinary efforts to conduct innovative, groundbreaking research and prepares future scientists to investigate the most important questions facing a changing planet.

Plant Institute
Promoting interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation in all aspects of plant-based scientific investigation
News
New 'Life From All Angles' video features Sally Mackenzie’s epigenetics research
The latest episode of "Life From All Angles," a YouTube series from the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, features Penn State Plant Institute Director Sally Mackenzie and her groundbreaking research in the field of epigenetics.
Penn State awarded grant to help dairy farmers develop climate-smart commodities
Funding of up to $25 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will support a new Penn State-led collaboration with dairy industry associations and producers to develop and implement climate-smart practices on Pennsylvania dairy farms.
Plant molecular geneticists discover, and begin to crack, the epigenetic code
When plants sense environmental challenges such as drought or extended periods of extreme temperatures, they instinctively reprogram their genetic material to survive and even thrive.
News
New 'Life From All Angles' video features Sally Mackenzie’s epigenetics research
The latest episode of "Life From All Angles," a YouTube series from the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, features Penn State Plant Institute Director Sally Mackenzie and her groundbreaking research in the field of epigenetics.
Penn State awarded grant to help dairy farmers develop climate-smart commodities
Funding of up to $25 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will support a new Penn State-led collaboration with dairy industry associations and producers to develop and implement climate-smart practices on Pennsylvania dairy farms.
Plant molecular geneticists discover, and begin to crack, the epigenetic code
When plants sense environmental challenges such as drought or extended periods of extreme temperatures, they instinctively reprogram their genetic material to survive and even thrive.
Jared Ali named director of the Penn State Center for Chemical Ecology
Jared Ali, Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair of Chemical Ecology and associate professor of entomology in the College of Agricultural Sciences, has been named director of the Penn State Center for Chemical Ecology (CCE).