June 1, 2018
In an exclusive story for AlumnInsider, Nina Jenkins shares insight into her groundbreaking research.
May 31, 2018
This is the 5th of eleven short news articles written by students, during the professional development class. This year we had the students interview their advisor(s), in an effort to help them better understand the larger context of their projects.
May 29, 2018
Zombie ants clamp on to aerial vegetation and hang for months spewing the spores of their parasitic fungi, but researchers noticed that they do not always clamp on to the same part of the plant. Now the researchers know that the choice of leaves or twigs is related to climate and that climate change forced the fungi to adapt to local conditions.
May 23, 2018
Story and photos by Jim Hale
May 23, 2018
Over a lifetime, some Lancaster County residents may have seen a fox with mange. Hunters may have glimpsed an infected coyote. It's a horrible sight with clumps of hair missing from the beautiful animals.
May 23, 2018
Penn State researchers think they might be able to solve, or at least control, the invasion of stink bugs — those shield-shaped invaders from the Far East that seemingly have become permanent residents in Southwestern Pennsylvania.
May 23, 2018
The crop plants recruit zombie-maker wasps, but one pest has a desperate work-around
May 23, 2018
On the heels of the first Spotted Lanternfly hatch of the season, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, the United Stated Department of Agriculture, and Penn State University today warned of its potential $18 billion impact on the commonwealth’s businesses, trade and economy.
May 23, 2018
Cases of vector-borne disease have more than doubled in the U.S. since 2004, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported, with mosquitoes and ticks bearing most of the blame.
May 21, 2018
To most people, the buds and sprouts of April are welcome heralds of spring. But to some farmers and scientists in the southeastern corner of Pennsylvania, these signs mark the beginning of a long season of dread.
May 18, 2018
The Huck Institute for the Life Sciences will present the first in a series of 'SciArt@TheHuck' exhibits when 'The Zombie Ant Experience' opens at the Millennium Science Complex May 21. Sculptor Talley Fisher is leading a team of artists, and scientists, as they finalize the interactive display.
May 18, 2018
In this newly created position, Leach is responsible for coordinating spotted lanternfly outreach and response efforts for the college, working in collaboration with state and federal agencies such as the state Department of Agriculture, Game Commission, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In addition, she will help ensure that Penn State Extension personnel are prepared to field inquiries and handle routine reporting duties.
May 17, 2018
Researchers and regular folks each can play a role in eradicating the invasive insects.
May 17, 2018
he smell attracts mosquitoes, and may help identify hidden cases - One of the more disturbing things about parasites is an ability to manipulate their hosts, sometimes to suicidal extremes. The classic example is the liver fluke. It infects an ant as an intermediate carrier, then drives the insect to climb a blade of grass where it is likelier to get eaten by the parasite’s adult-stage host: a cow or other grazing ruminant.
May 16, 2018
When it comes to the importance of bees, Connie Schmotzer does not mince words. "Without bees, the world's food supply would be cut drastically, threatening the survival of many plants, animals and humans," said the Penn State Extension Master Gardener coordinator and horticulture educator. "Life, as we know it, would be much different — and not for the better."
May 16, 2018
Hillary Peterson is every brown marmorated stink bug's worst nightmare. The Penn State doctoral degree student does not intend to rest professionally until she and other entomologists devise a way to reduce burgeoning populations of the invasive insect, originally from Asia, which are damaging crops and aggravating people. The goal of their research is to develop biological controls to interfere with the pest's reproduction.
May 16, 2018
This is the 4th of eleven short news articles written by students, during the professional development class. This year we had the students interview their advisor(s), in an effort to help them better understand the larger context of their projects.
May 10, 2018
As we head into the summer months, there are growing concerns about tick bites. Channel 11 reached out to a bug expert from Penn State to find out what people need to know to protect themselves this tick season.
May 10, 2018
Infestations common problem for first responders. Bedbugs, unlike mosquitoes, don’t spread illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — nor are they found only amidst squalor.
May 10, 2018
They're preparing to hatch, and wreak havoc on the county, as officials mull new ideas to control them.
May 10, 2018
A nearly $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will support Penn State researchers in determining best management practices for organic beekeeping by comparing organic and chemical-free to conventional management systems.
May 3, 2018
This is the 3rd of eleven short news articles written by students, during the professional development class. This year we had the students interview their advisor(s), in an effort to help them better understand the larger context of their projects.
May 2, 2018
Students and faculty from Penn State’s Departments of Entomology, Biology, and Plant Science attended the 89th Annual Meeting of the Eastern Branch of the Entomological Society of America (EB ESA). The meeting was held March 17-19, 2018 at the Westin Annapolis Hotel in Annapolis, Maryland, where the National ESA Headquarters is located.
May 2, 2018
It is well known that certain wasps suppress the immune systems of their caterpillar hosts so they can successfully raise their young within those hosts. Now researchers at Penn State show that, in addition to suppressing caterpillar immune systems, wasps also suppress the defense mechanisms of the plants on which the caterpillars feed, which ensures that the caterpillars will continue to provide a suitable environment for the wasps' offspring.
April 30, 2018
A summer intern from Virginia State University — working in the lab of James Tumlinson, Ralph O. Mumma Professor of Entomology in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences — has presented an award-winning lecture in the Emerging Researchers National Conference in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in Washington, D.C., on the research they conducted during their summer at Penn State.
April 25, 2018
Pennsylvania's black bear population is experiencing a mange epidemic, and a Penn State research team will work with the state Game Commission to gain a better understanding of the disease and develop strategies to manage it.
April 19, 2018
Andrew Read, Evan Pugh University Professor of Biology and Entomology in Penn State's Eberly College of Science and the College of Agricultural Sciences, has been elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS).
April 19, 2018
Most people have probably seen the phrase “bees are dying at an alarming rate” on the internet. Most pass it off as a joke, but one Penn State organization is taking it to heart.
April 19, 2018
This is the 2nd of eleven short news articles written by students, during the professional development class. This year we had the students interview their advisor(s), in an effort to help them better understand the larger context of their projects.
April 16, 2018
Grape growers, orchardists, nursery operators, homeowners and others in southeastern Pennsylvania are bracing for the spring emergence of the spotted lanternfly, an invasive insect from Asia that appeared for the first time in the United States in Berks County nearly four years ago. Penn State Extension educators and College of Agricultural Sciences researchers are working with state and federal agriculture officials to stop the pest's spread.
