Plant Institute News | Plant Institute | The Huck Institutes (en-US)

2024 My Green Lab Consultants Zaman Ataie and Ananya Gollakota check the expiration date on a chemical bottle. Credit: Lydia Vandenbergh. All Rights Reserved.

Feb 11, 2025

Sustainable Labs Program increases participant engagement, welcomes new labs

Two upcoming virtual sessions will cover how labs can learn more and join next year’s cohort.

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Researchers visit the Laguna del Hunco fossil rainforest site in Argentina. Credit: L. Alejandro Giraldo. All Rights Reserved.

Feb 05, 2025

Fossils show leaf-eating insects tracked gum trees for millions of years

New study reveals surprisingly consistent insect feeding damage on fossils from Argentina and modern gum tree leaves from Australia.

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Director Bruce Logan, fourth from left, stands with the IEE Research Award winners. From left to right are: Hong Wu, Lisa Emili, Nathaniel Warner, Brian Fronk and Margaret Busse. Lauren McPhillips is not pictured. Credit: Brenna Buck. All Rights Reserved.

Jan 28, 2025

Researchers recognized for excellence by Institute of Energy and the Environment

The Institute of Energy and the Environment recognized six Penn State faculty members for their research excellence.

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Farmers confer amidst their corn crop, garden and fish ponds. Typically, smallholder fish farms are family-run operations that raise tilapia in small areas of land along with a few crops and some livestock. Credit: Jacob Johnson. All Rights Reserved.

Jan 28, 2025

Researchers explore strategies to aid smallholder fish farmers in Zambia

Fish farming is key to food security in Africa; study shows that optimized agricultural resource management helps fish farmers in Zambia

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The findings are a step in identifying beneficial microorganisms that potentially could be used to improve mushroom harvests and prevent disease, the researchers said. Credit: Harshal S. Hirve/Unsplash. All Rights Reserved.

Jan 27, 2025

Harnessing mushroom microbiomes for better crop development

Microorganisms collected from the material in which button mushrooms are grown may benefit the development of future fungi crops, according to a study led by researchers in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences and published in the journal Fungal Biology.

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Samples for the study were collected by researchers from Penn State, the Forest Service and other partners around the Oregon ash range, extending from California, Oregon and Washington into British Columbia. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

Jan 09, 2025

Ash tree variability may offer restoration path post-beetle decimation

Researchers found that genetic diversity is key to breeding ash trees resistant to emerald ash borers and rising temperatures.

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Flies play a crucial role as pollinators, second only to bees in terms of the volume of crops and habitat they pollinate. Pictured here is a blue fly pollinating common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca). Credit: Martha B. Moss/Penn State Extension Master Gardener / Penn State. Creative Commons

Jan 02, 2025

Pollinators most vulnerable to rising global temperatures are flies, study shows

New research led by Penn State scientists suggests flies are increasingly at risk due to rising global temperatures.

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Dec 17, 2024

Penn State Herbarium adds historic perspective to modern research

Boasting a collection of an estimated 35,000 plant specimens form around the world, the Penn State Herbarium is the third largest herbarium in Pennsylvania. Among its holdings are 3,000 plant specimens from the personal collection of Even Pugh, the first president of Penn State.

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Fossil evidence is reshaping the understanding of modern forest management practices used in Australian rainforests, according to researchers

Dec 04, 2024

Q&A: What fossils reveal about ancient Australian forests and fire

Fossil evidence is reshaping the understanding of modern forest management practices used in Australian rainforests, according to researchers.

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The agroforestry practice of forest farming may be a solution to conservation challenges surrounding the wild exploitation of ramps, often called wild leeks, but it requires proper site selection to be successful. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

Nov 27, 2024

Better habitats for forest farming wild leeks could help future foraging demands

An interdisciplinary Penn State research team characterized ramp habitat for the first time in Pennsylvania, offering guidance for the agroforestry practice known as forest farming.

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