News

Coral conservation efforts aided by computer simulations

New research shows that endangered corals in the eastern Pacific Ocean are isolated from healthy coral populations in the west

Ecology Institute announces call for new research center proposals

The Ecology Institute has established a modest funding program to help support the development of new centers that have a central ecological theme. The aim is to add value to ongoing basic and applied ecological research and to foster new collaborations across the Penn State community.

Where there's smoke and a mutation there may be an evolutionary edge for humans

A genetic mutation may have helped modern humans adapt to smoke exposure from fires and perhaps sparked an evolutionary advantage over their archaic competitors, including Neandertals, according to a team of researchers.

Announcing Huck Graduate Research Innovation Grant recipients for 2016

The Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences is pleased to announce this year’s recipients of Huck Graduate Research Innovation (GRI) Grants.

Tang wins Outstanding Oral Poster Prize

Yin Tang, a graduate student in the Bioinformatics and Genomics program who is co-advised by Sally Assmann and Phil Bevilacqua, recently won a University of California, Berkeley Center for Computational Biology Outstanding Oral Poster Prize for his presentation at the Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology (ISMB) 2016 meeting in Orlando, Florida.

Penn State researcher awarded grant to study Zika transmission in United States

The Zika virus is appearing more frequently in the United States, including a locally transmitted outbreak in Florida, and people are concerned. Now the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a Penn State researcher a grant to test whether common American mosquitoes can carry the virus.

Colleen McSweeney selected to chair the Huck Graduate Student Advisory Committee 2016-2017

The Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences is pleased to announce that Colleen McSweeney, a Ph.D. candidate in the Neuroscience Intercollege Graduate Degree Program (IGDP) has been selected to serve as chair of the Huck Graduate Student Advisory Committee (HGSAC) for the 2016-2017 academic year.

Self-healing textiles not only repair themselves, but can neutralize chemicals

Someday, chemically protective suits made of fabric coated in self-healing, thin films may prevent farmers from exposure to organophosphate pesticides, soldiers from chemical or biological attacks in the field and factory workers from accidental releases of toxic materials, according to a team of researchers.

Super-Cold Microscope Has Super Cool Uses

While "go big" is the motto for many science initiatives, Penn State researchers are hoping a cutting-edge microscope will allow them to "go deep" to promote biomedical research and discoveries in materials science.

Entomological Society of America Recognizes 2016 Fellows

Among those elected is Matt Thomas, director of the Ecology Institute and Huck Scholar in ecological entomology