News | The Huck Institutes (en-US)

Thomas McLellan, former deputy director in the Office of National Drug Control Policy in the Obama Administration, presents data showing increased prices and taxes reduce alcohol drinking rates and resultant problems by up to 30 percent. His talk was part of the Consortium to Combat Substance Abuse Conference held at Penn State University Park on April 29, 2019. IMAGE: PATRICK MANSELL

May 03, 2019

Inaugural conference to address substance misuse held at Penn State

Consortium to Combat Substance Abuse Conference gathered more than 200 researchers, educators, practitioners and policymakers at University Park

Full Article

A "questing" female Ixodes scapularis (blacklegged tick) reaches out in hopes of climbing aboard a host. Researchers say the blacklegged tick, the primary vector of Lyme disease, was almost nonexistent in Pennsylvania in the 1960s but now is the state's dominant tick species. IMAGE: JOYCE SAKAMOTO/PENN STATE

May 03, 2019

More Than 100 Years of Data show Pennsylvania Tick Population Shift

The prevalence of the most abundant species of ticks found in Pennsylvania has shifted over the last century, according to Penn State scientists, who analyzed 117 years' worth of specimens and data submitted primarily by residents from around the state.

Full Article

Penn State alumna Laura Russo has been selected to receive the Robert May Prize from the British Ecological Society. IMAGE: PENN STATE

May 02, 2019

Alumna Laura Russo receives Robert May Prize from the British Ecological Society

PSU alumna Laura Russo has been selected to receive the Robert May Prize from the British Ecological Society, the oldest ecological society in the world. The prize recognizes the best paper by an early career researcher in the society’s scientific journal Methods in Ecology and Evolution.

Full Article

A new study led by researchers at Penn State has identified the gene responsible for the color switch between the red and black color forms of the bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus. The black form is similar to other bees in the Pacific Coastal region while the red form is similar to other bees in the Rocky Mountain region. IMAGE: LI TIAN, PENN STATE

May 01, 2019

How The Bumble Bee Got Its Stripes

Researchers have discovered a gene that drives color differences within a species of bumble bees. This discovery helps to explain the highly diverse color patterns among bumble bee species as well as how mimicry — individuals in an area adopting similar color patterns — evolves.

Full Article

May 01, 2019

Squire Booker Elected as Member of the National Academy of Sciences

Squire J. Booker, professor of chemistry and of biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State, Holder of the Eberly Distinguished Chair in Science, and investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, has been elected as a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Full Article

A man inspects an "Eave Tube" used to intercept and kill mosquitoes CREDIT: Matthew Thomas

Apr 30, 2019

Five Huck Researchers Featured In Penn State's "Impact" Campaign

The Huck Institutes is well-represented among this collection of exciting work being done by members of the University community.

Full Article

Apr 30, 2019

NIH Grant Funds Research to Pinpoint Natural Selection’s Influence on Genomes

With a $1.7 million grant through the National Institutes of Health, researchers led by Michael DeGiorgio will begin to tease apart individual forces to understand how much influence natural selection has had on our evolutionary path.

Full Article

Apr 29, 2019

'Right' Cover-Crop Mix Good for Both Chesapeake and Bottom Lines

Planting and growing a strategic mix of cover crops not only reduces the loss of nitrogen from farm fields, protecting water quality in the Chesapeake Bay, but the practice also contributes nitrogen to subsequent cash crops, improving yields, according to researchers.

Full Article

Apr 25, 2019

Food Scientist Kovac Receives Young Investigator Award

Jasna Kovac, assistant professor of food science in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, recently was named recipient of the Institut Merieux Young Investigator Award in Antimicrobial Resistance from the International Association for Food Protection.

Full Article

The virus SW1 is carried by cells so that related bacteria may recognize other SW1 carriers and kill bacteria that do not have the virus, giving bacteria with SW1 a competitive advantage when foraging for food. IMAGE: SOOYEON SONG AND MISSY HAZEN/PENN STATE

Apr 25, 2019

Bacteria uses viral weapon against other bacteria

Bacterial cells use both a virus — traditionally thought to be an enemy — and a prehistoric viral protein to kill other bacteria that competes with it for food according to an international team of researchers who believe this has potential implications for future infectious disease treatment.

Full Article