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Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences has recognized five faculty members for outstanding undergraduate teaching. The awards were presented at a recent college-wide ceremony.

The impact that natural-gas development in deep shale formations has on rural Pennsylvania roads will be the focus of a free, Web-based seminar offered by Penn State Extension.

A Web-based Penn State Extension course designed to help beginning and experienced beekeepers gain the knowledge they need to be successful has been recognized for online excellence. Beekeeping 101 was named an official honoree in the 2013 Webby Awards. The course was one of 11 honorees in the Education category.

Penn State Extension will offer a Web-based seminar focusing on low-impact development, a stormwater-management strategy designed to mitigate the impacts of increased runoff and resulting pollution.

Mike Lohr early on knew exactly what he wanted to be. When he was a kid, he called it a "bird scientist." Now he knows the proper title is avian ecologist. The 2005 Penn State alumnus currently is involved in a groundbreaking conservation project at the Ka'ena Point Coastal Reserve in Hawaii.

Bonnie Ford, quality assurance laboratory specialist in Penn State's Department of Food Science, recently accepted the 2012 Dairy Laboratory of the Year Award from the Pennsylvania Association of Milk, Food, and Environmental Sanitarians. Ford is responsible for the operation of the Berkey Creamery's Dairy Testing Laboratory.

With populations of wild and domesticated pollinators, such as honeybees, in decline, some of the world's foremost scientists in the field will converge on Penn State this summer to discuss the latest research aimed at understanding and overcoming challenges to pollinator health. more»

Changing the way a plant forms cellulose may lead to more efficient, less expensive biofuel production, according to Penn State engineers. "What every biofuel manufacturer wants to do is to get to the sugars," said Jeffrey Catchmark, associate professor of agricultural and biological engineering. "But the structure of cellulose itself can be an obstacle."

The new livestock identification program recently launched by the federal government should not place a significant burden on producers in Pennsylvania or the East, according to an expert in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.

"The most affordable foods, the most inflation-resistant foods, the most accessible foods are the least healthy foods. ... more»

Proposed new Food and Drug Administration regulations developed under the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act, or FSMA, will affect how Pennsylvania farmers, processors and retailers operate. But the devil is in the still-to-be-finalized details, and implementing the most sweeping changes to the nation's food-safety laws in more than 70 years will require collaboration, communication and education.

In the wake of several manure-pit fatalities on mid-Atlantic farms in recent years, researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences have published a new, international standard to vent confined animal-manure storage facilities used at large livestock operations.

Two women from the Penn State Woodsmen Team placed first in their events at a competition in Syracuse, N.Y., on March 23, defeating their opponents in the women's obstacle course and women's stock saw.

Penn State's Pasto Agricultural Museum will hold its first open house of 2013 during Blue-White Weekend on Sunday, April 21.

Penn State Extension and Penn State Small Business Development Center will host Social Media Boot Camp for businesses. The basic training will be held June 18-19 in 115 Keller Building on the University Park campus.

Nina Jenkins and Matt Thomas of Penn State's entomology department will host the NanoDays Science Café from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Thursday, April 11, at Zola New World Bistro, 324 W. College Ave., State College, Pa.

The tours and presentations have been finalized for Penn State's first statewide Private Forest Landowners Conference, and the program promises to be unparalleled for providing forest stewardship information to Pennsylvania citizens.

Kristal Jones, a doctoral candidate in agricultural economics, sociology and education in the College of Agricultural Sciences, and Nicole Laliberte, a doctoral candidate in geography and women's studies, have been honored as co-recipients of the 2013 W. LaMarr Kopp International Achievement Award for graduate students. more»

Michael Henry, a senior majoring in immunology and infectious disease in the College of Agricultural Sciences, and Michael Passiment, a senior majoring in public policy in the Capital College at Penn State Harrisburg, have been named recipients of the 2013 Ralph Dorn Hetzel Memorial Award.

Penn State Culinology team finished third in national competition in Charlotte, N.C.

A Penn State team has received accolades for developing research databases related to 4-H and the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program, also known as EFNEP. more»

Darcy McKinley Lester does not like baked beans and spaghetti on toast for breakfast, but she said that dish is hard to avoid when you study abroad in Australia. The Mechanicsburg, Pa., native studied at the Australian National University in Canberra last spring.

Managing bacteria and other microorganisms in the body, rather than just fighting them, may be lead to better health and a stronger immune system, according to a Penn State biologist.

Robert F. Roberts, who has served as interim head of the Penn State Department of Food Science since May 2012, has been named to the post on a permanent basis.

An exhibition, "The Life Sciences Library at 125 years," is on display in the University Libraries' Sidewater Commons, 102 Pattee Library, now through June 21.