A rainforest waterfall in Brazil

Engineering Resilient Ecosystems

Huck scientists use interdisciplinary approaches to understand, protect, and restore ecological communities under threat, translating research into practical solutions that build resilient ecosystems and sustain essential natural services.

Engineering Resilient Ecosystems

Blue poison dart frog in Brazil

Ecological communities include microbes, plants and animals that interact with each other and environmental factors such as nutrients in the soil, water, and air. Functional ecological communities support food webs that sustain biodiversity, pollination of agricultural crops, nutrient cycling, and clean water systems. However, ecological communities can be disrupted by stressors, including the introduction of invasive species, emerging infectious diseases, extreme weather, pollution, and construction.

Scientists at the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences aim to develop innovative strategies, using approaches spanning genomics to ecology, material science to civil engineering, to first identify communities at risk of disturbance and then protect, restore and create resilient ecosystems in our cities, farms, forests, streams, lakes and oceans. Through partnerships with conservation organizations, government agencies, and community stakeholders, we seek to translate these scientific advances into practical solutions that enhance ecosystem stability and services.

News

Isolated Torrey pine populations yield insights into genetic diversity

Researchers find a few genes that allowed trees from insular populations to adapt to local conditions may inhibit their adjustment long term to a new location.

Urban heat portal aims to tackle rising temperatures, protect at-risk residents

As heat and associated risks intensify in cities around the world, a new tool developed by researchers in the College of Arts and Architecture’s Stuckeman School at Penn State and the Department of Urban Policy at Hunter College aims to shed light on how rising temperatures affect New York City’s neighborhoods — and what can be done to protect the most vulnerable communities.

Some water conservation programs may get more value by targeting rural farms

Conservation programs aimed at boosting environmentally friendly practices by incentivizing farmers may get more bang for their buck by targeting rural farms rather than more urban ones, according to a study led by researchers at Penn State.

News

Isolated Torrey pine populations yield insights into genetic diversity

Researchers find a few genes that allowed trees from insular populations to adapt to local conditions may inhibit their adjustment long term to a new location.

Urban heat portal aims to tackle rising temperatures, protect at-risk residents

As heat and associated risks intensify in cities around the world, a new tool developed by researchers in the College of Arts and Architecture’s Stuckeman School at Penn State and the Department of Urban Policy at Hunter College aims to shed light on how rising temperatures affect New York City’s neighborhoods — and what can be done to protect the most vulnerable communities.

Some water conservation programs may get more value by targeting rural farms

Conservation programs aimed at boosting environmentally friendly practices by incentivizing farmers may get more bang for their buck by targeting rural farms rather than more urban ones, according to a study led by researchers at Penn State.

Traditional forest medicinal plant ghost pipe used differently today

Driven by the internet and social media, consumption of a strange white plant known as ghost pipe is enjoying a resurgence — but with a twist.