UNIVERSITY PARK, Pennsylvania, Aug. 22 -- Pennsylvania State University issued the following news: A bottle of water sampled from a lake or river can reveal what fish, amphibians insects and bacteria are present, thanks to environmental DNA (eDNA), the genetic material shed by organisms. This way of measuring transforms scientists' ability to determine the extent of aquatic life in various water bodies, according to a team led by Daniel Allen, assistant professor of aquatic ecology in Penn Stat  more

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pennsylvania, Aug. 19 -- Pennsylvania State University issued the following news: UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. The Penn State Alumni Association invites all Penn Staters to the University Park campus to celebrate Homecoming Weekend 2024, set for Sept. 27-28. This year's theme, "In Every Roar, Tradition Soars," will highlight a week of events culminating with Saturday's football game vs. Illinois. Here's what you can expect if you're in town for the weekend: Student-Alumni Ice Cream S  more

READING, Pennsylvania, Aug. 22 -- Alvernia University issued the following news: * * * Alvernia University alumnus gains prominent position to influence Pennsylvania's 10 state universities * * * Alvernia University alumnus Brandon Danz, Ph.D. was recently nominated by Governor Josh Shapiro to a term on the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Board of Governors. Danz was unanimously confirmed by the Pennsylvania State Senate in July. The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Educati  more

BLACKSBURG, Virginia, Aug. 21 -- Virginia Tech issued the following news: With 17 years of dedicated service at Virginia Tech, Benjamin Tracy has been appointed the interim director of the School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, effective July 1. He will continue to serve in his current roles as associate director of undergraduate programs and professor of forage and crop ecology. Tracy succeeds Michael Evans, the school's founding director, who stepped down to focus on his roles as a prof  more

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pennsylvania, Aug. 22 -- Pennsylvania State University issued the following news: A type of drug developed for treating cancer holds promise as a new treatment for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, according to a recent study by researchers at Penn State, Stanford University and an international team of collaborators. The researchers discovered that by blocking a specific enzyme called indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase 1, or IDO1 for short, they could rescue memory and  more

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pennsylvania, Aug. 21 -- Pennsylvania State University issued the following news: UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. Honey bees may play a role in increasing virus levels in wild bumble bees each spring, according to researchers at Penn State who analyzed seasonal trends of parasite and virus transmission in bees. The study published in the journal Ecosphere found that honey bees consistently had higher levels of viruses than bumble bees. Additionally, while both types of bees had lower vir  more

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pennsylvania, Aug. 23 -- Pennsylvania State University issued the following news: UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. Janine Kwapis, the Paul Berg Early Career Professor in the Biological Sciences at Penn State, has been appointed director of the University's Center for Molecular Investigation of Neurological Disorders (CMIND), an interdisciplinary research unit within the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences. CMIND facilitates collaborations across Penn State and provides its members with ac  more

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pennsylvania, Aug. 21 -- Pennsylvania State University issued the following news: UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. Penn State Athletics today (Aug. 21) announced a $10 million Founders' Gift for the Beaver Stadium Revitalization project from a donor who chooses to remain anonymous. This is the second Founders Gift for the project, joining the $25 million commitment from the Misitano Family and PAM Health announced last week. "This generous family has supported our department in a number o  more

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pennsylvania, Aug. 19 -- Pennsylvania State University issued the following news: UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. Ten Penn State students, including nine associated with the College of Agricultural Sciences, have been awarded predoctoral fellowships by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA), securing over $1.4 million in total funding. Penn State is tied for first place nationally with Cornell University for the highest number of USDA-  more

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pennsylvania, Aug. 21 -- Pennsylvania State University issued the following news: UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. Penn State University Police and Public Safety (UPPS) is urging Penn State football fans to be wary of ticket scams, which have become prevalent over the past several seasons. "Online ticketing scams continue to raise concerns as we head into the 2024 college football season and fans should remain cautious when purchasing tickets online," said Wesley Sheets, chief of Penn Sta  more

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pennsylvania, Aug. 19 -- Pennsylvania State University issued the following news: UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. Penn State's finances and long-term outlook remain strong, according to recently released reports from Moody's Investors Service and S&P Global Ratings. Both services gave the University's credit rating a "stable" outlook, with Moody's extending Penn State's Aa1 stable rating and S&P continuing the University's AA long-term rating with a stable outlook. The ratings, which ar  more

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pennsylvania, Aug. 22 -- Pennsylvania State University issued the following news: A project aimed at helping prepare undergraduate students to serve as future agricultural educators has received $750,000 in renewed funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The project known as the Global Orientation to Agricultural Learning, or GOALs, program is a collaboration among Penn State, the University of Idaho and 1,890 land-grant in  more

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pennsylvania, Aug. 23 -- Pennsylvania State University issued the following news: UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. The beginning of a new semester at Penn State marks more than just the start of classes. For many students, the new semester also marks their first time living on their own and with that independence also comes the need for personal responsibility for one's own safety and security. Officer Michelle Beckenbaugh, community policing liaison officer for Penn State University Poli  more

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pennsylvania, Aug. 23 -- Pennsylvania State University issued the following news: UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. After three weeks of testing as required under a voluntary state monitoring program for bird flu in dairy cattle, animal health experts in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences announced that the University's dairy herd has been certified as free of highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI. "The Penn State dairy herd has achieved 'monitored herd' status under the Pe  more

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pennsylvania, Aug. 22 -- Pennsylvania State University issued the following news: HERSHEY, Pa. It's one of life's most momentous days: The first-time college drop-off. There's excitement. Pride. Anxiety. Apprehension. And tears. So many tears. And that's just the parents. It can be tough on students, too. Overall, college drop-off day can be an emotional rollercoaster, one that is difficult to navigate. But there are ways to make the day easier for all involved. First, embr  more

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pennsylvania, Aug. 22 -- Pennsylvania State University issued the following news: UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. Cocoa may be the dark horse in the race against obesity, according to researchers at Penn State. Nearly one in three adults are overweight and more than two in five have obesity in the U.S., both conditions that come with inflammation-related health concerns. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded a research team, led by Joshua Lambert, professor of food science in the  more

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pennsylvania, Aug. 21 -- Pennsylvania State University issued the following news: UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. Pesticides reduce crop loss, helping to stabilize production, but excessive use of pesticides has brought huge negative impacts to the environment and human health, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. To address the problem, a team of Penn State researchers is developing a robotic precision pesticide sprayer capable of targeted application while minimizing uninte  more

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pennsylvania, Aug. 19 -- Pennsylvania State University issued the following news: UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. Some veterans continue to struggle with underemployment and dissatisfaction with their pay up to four years after leaving the military, according to a recent survey study by researchers in the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness at Penn State (Clearinghouse). Published in the Journal of Veterans Studies, the study of approximately 3,000 post-9/11 veterans analyzed dat  more

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pennsylvania, Aug. 22 -- Pennsylvania State University issued the following news: UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. Community scientists in Pennsylvania have reported multiple new species of bees never before found in the commonwealth through a monitoring program led by Penn State. The program, in which highly trained participants collected bees throughout Pennsylvania, was designed to document regional patterns of bee biodiversity and their abundance as the critically important pollinator  more