August 7, 2018
Growing up can be hard no matter what a family's circumstances, but it is often more so for children living in the Kyrgyz Republic in Central Asia, one of the poorest countries in the world, known for its dry environment, high mountains, nomadic culture and animal-husbandry heritage. Isolation, poverty and food insecurity are among the hardships children live with, but perhaps most distressing is separation from their parents, many of whom live away from home for months and even years to work in countries like Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkey. Understanding the economic, health, behavioral and educational effects of labor migration on children is one aspect of a three-year, interdisciplinary research project that is being carried out by researchers in Penn State's Colleges of Agricultural Sciences, Liberal Arts, Earth and Mineral Sciences, Health and Human Development, and Education.
July 17, 2018
When Matt Royer teaches undergraduates about nutrient pollution, he calls it a next-generation environmental problem. “I start with a history of the environmental movement,” says Royer, director of Penn State’s Agriculture and Environment Center. “Most of our current law was born out of those televised images from the 1960s, images of rivers catching on fire, smog inversions, oil spills on California beaches. Things that are easy to see, that have drastic, immediate impacts.” Nutrient pollution is not like that. Its impacts mount gradually, and they can be difficult to spot. But it’s a major issue affecting water quality around the world: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency names it “one of America's most widespread, costly and challenging environmental problems.”
July 5, 2018
Gender researchers from around the world converged at Penn State in June to discuss the importance of incorporating gender concepts into international agricultural research. Sponsored by the College of Agricultural Sciences' Gender, Agriculture and Environment Initiative, the events kicked off June 6-7 with the initiative's inaugural event, the Gender, Agriculture and Environment Symposium, which provided participants with an opportunity to learn from gender researchers and practitioners who are leaders in gender scholarship and policies. Symposium sessions addressed how gender intersects with factors such as climate change, land and water use, biodiversity, access to agricultural value chains and technologies, sustainable agriculture practices, and divisions of labor. Following the symposium, many attendees remained at Penn State for the Gender Research and Integrated Training program, a three-week series of workshops led by faculty in the College of Agricultural Sciences. The training is funded by a two-year grant from the CGIAR Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers. The CGIAR Consortium consists of 15 centers around the world.
June 11, 2018
An analysis of employment change in the state since 2001 suggests the existence of "two Pennsylvanias" during the period from 2001 to 2017, according to economists in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. The newly released report shows a sharp divide between southeastern Pennsylvania, with mainly job growth, and the rest of the state, with primarily job decline.
April 9, 2018
Penn State undergraduate students, State College Area High School students, and youth from the Philadelphia Chapter of HOPE Worldwide/Saturday Academy will come together for the first Penn State Youth as Researchers Exposition on Friday, April 13, beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the Ruth Pike Auditorium, Biobehavioral Health Building, University Park campus.
April 2, 2018
Investing in education may help boost economic opportunities for the next generation, according to a team of economists. In a study, researchers suggest that investing in public education can lead to more upward economic mobility and lower teen pregnancy rates, as well as provide a way to ease income inequality.
March 26, 2018
Congrats to Dr. Perkins, who was recently appointed to serve as a member of the National Academics of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Committee on the Well-Being of Military Families!
March 23, 2018
Kathleen Sexsmith, assistant professor of rural sociology in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, is the recipient of the college's 2017 Roy C. Buck Faculty Award, which recognizes the best article accepted or published by a refereed scholarly journal in the social sciences within the past two years.
March 22, 2018
A group of Penn State students in the Entrepreneurship and Innovation minor traveled to Israel over spring break to explore the entrepreneurial spirit of the country, meet with policymakers, and get a taste of the culture in the Middle Eastern country.
March 19, 2018
Faculty and graduate students in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences illustrated how their research touches every corner of the world during the inaugural Global Gallery, a symposium hosted by the International Agriculture and Development dual-title graduate program and its student association.
March 2, 2018
Furthering agriculture teachers' knowledge about the value of hands-on watershed education was the focus of recent workshops hosted by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in partnership with Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences' Center for Professional Development.
February 27, 2018
Rose Cowan, right, a senior in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, is getting a head start on her teaching career as a student teacher in the Penn Manor School District in Millersville.
February 2, 2018
Penn State (as well as the AESE department) will be represented in a small cohort of Fellows as part of a new UNESCO program that focuses on preventing violent extremism all over the world.
February 2, 2018
The overprescribing of opioid-based painkillers may be the main driver of the increased abuse of opioids in rural America, but economists say that other factors, including declining farm income, extreme weather and other natural disasters, may affect a crisis that is killing thousands of citizens and costing the country billions of dollars.
December 20, 2017
Congrats to our AgrAbility team for receiving funding from the USDA-NIFA to help prevent fatalities and serious injuries associated with farming and to provide assistance to individuals farming with disabilities.
December 14, 2017
Food safety practices that Americans take for granted — washing hands with soap, refrigeration, and not cutting raw meat and vegetables on the same surface without disinfection — are not widely practiced in other places around the world, and researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences want to change that.
November 2, 2017
Thomas Mischen, of Gibsonia, and Sylvester "Sy" Tanner, of Turtlepoint, were randomly placed together as roommates during the fall of 1966 -- the first semester of their freshman year at Penn State -- and have been close friends ever since. To commemorate their enduring friendship, the friends recently established the Mischen/Tanner Scholarship Fund in the College of Agricultural Sciences.
October 27, 2017
The Everett S. Lee Graduate Student Paper Award goes to Donghui Wang for her paper titled "No country for old people? Elder's perceptions toward own-aging, modernization and social change in China." The Walter Terrie Award for Applied Demography goes to Guangqing Chi and Donghui Wang for their paper titled "Population projection accuracy: The impacts of sociodemographics, accessibility, land use, and neighbor characteristics." Congratulations!
October 26, 2017
Sterman Masser, Pennsylvania's largest potato producer, knows consumers aren't reaching for 5- and 10-pound bags of raw potatoes like they used to, and growing its business means developing new value-added products. So students in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences are working on finding solutions to this market challenge.
October 19, 2017
Four new Fulbright Scholars, who arrived at the College of Agricultural Sciences in August, are looking to economics, sociology, and soil and plant science research for ways to put Colombia at the forefront of the world's cacao production. Under the guidance of faculty at Penn State, they will attempt to tackle some of the country's most pervasive issues, from education to production challenges and corruption.
October 12, 2017
On October 18th-20th, two graduate students, Ilse Huerta Arredondo and Celize Christy, will represent the University at World Food Prize events in Des Moines, Iowa. The symposium correlates with both Ilse's and Celize's research. Celize's research focuses on local traditional knowledge related to the management of poultry diseases in Rwanda. Ilse's research interests are agricultural awareness through non-formal education to promote supportive agricultural policy-making, especially in Mexico.
October 9, 2017
Emily Seiger, a community, environment and development major in the College of Agricultural Sciences, is gaining insight into problems related to food safety, hygiene and food security around the world.
October 4, 2017
Congratulations to Dr. Bowen for her research being featured in Penn State News!
October 3, 2017
Kelli Herr, senior in community, environment and development in the College of Agricultural Sciences at Penn State, spent her break a long way from home in Thulo Pakhar, Nepal. She worked with a group called All Hands Volunteers, a U.S.-based nonprofit disaster relief organization.
September 20, 2017
M.E. John Seminar Series with Brian King, Associate Professor of Geography September 29, 2017 2:30-3:30pm 215 Armsby Building
August 31, 2017
Ongoing research conducted by Nicole Webster, associate professor of youth and international development in the Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology, and Education, examines the role of youth in civic engagement and social change.
August 22, 2017
Many would argue that bigger doesn't necessarily mean better. But when it comes to the profitability and survival of Pennsylvania farms, size apparently matters, according to a report compiled by economists in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.
June 14, 2017
Laszlo Kulcsar, professor of sociology and head of the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work at Kansas State University, will join Penn State as head of the Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology, and Education, effective Aug. 1.
May 25, 2017
Dr. Radhakrishna wins "Outstanding Agricultural Educator" award
May 22, 2017
Congratulations Dr. Leif Jensen
