The Medical Minute: What you need to know about Lyme disease
| psu.edu
Tricks to avoid ticks — and what to do if one latches on — from Tara Simmons, a community health nurse at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.
War-induced fertilizer shortage may be reducing US soil and water pollution
| by Kimberly Van Meter
American farmers are expected to plant several million fewer acres of corn in 2026 than they did in 2025, as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz throttles a key fertilizer trading corridor, along with the energy and raw materials needed to produce and transport fertilizer.
College of IST awards seed grants to five research projects
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The College of Information Sciences and Technology recently selected five projects to receive funding from its seed grant program. The funding aims to support interdisciplinary research activities and generate preliminary results that may lead to bigger projects involving external funding.
SAFES grants to address Critical Issues Initiatives in College of Ag Sciences
| psu.edu
Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, through its Institute for Sustainable Agricultural, Food and Environmental Science, known as SAFES, recently announced its latest awards to accelerate the advancement of its Critical Issues Initiatives.
‘Food noise’ discussion on social media helps define the term
| psu.edu
While food noise has become a more common term in recent years, there’s no consensus on an official definition. Researchers from Penn State studied how the phenomenon is discussed on TikTok and how people experience it in order to better define the concept and guide future interventions to help manage it.
Penn State ranks 23rd in US, 92nd globally in 2027 QS World University Rankings
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Penn State is tied at No. 23 in the U.S. out of 184 nationally ranked institutions in the 2027 QS World University Rankings. Penn State also tied at No. 7 among U.S. public institutions, and at No. 5 among Big Ten universities, and is once again the top-ranked public university in Pennsylvania. Internationally, Penn State is tied at No. 92, placing the University in the top 6% worldwide among the 1,504 institutions ranked overall by QS.
College of Agricultural Sciences bestows Laureate Awards
| psu.edu
Five staff members in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences were recently recognized for their exemplary service during the annual Staff Laureate Awards reception.
July 1 symposium to strengthen and expand partnership with African universities
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On July 1, Penn State’s Alliance for Education, Science, Engineering, and Design with Africa will host a joint symposium with the African-led Partnership for Skills in Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology (PASET) to strengthen and expand the Penn State-PASET partnership and collaboration.
Huck administrator earns international recognition
| psu.edu
Research Professor Camelia Kantor, director of strategic initiatives at Penn State’s Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, has been selected as a 2026 Future of the Field honoree by the Society of Research Administrators International.
Q&A: Does the New World screwworm pose a threat to Pennsylvania?
| psu.edu
Erika Machtinger, associate professor of entomology in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, discussed the state of the current screwworm outbreak — and what risks the insect poses to Pennsylvania and beyond.
The Medical Minute: Sweltering summer? Avoid heat-related illness
| psu.edu
As temperatures soar this summer, so does the risk of heat-related illness. Before heading outdoors on a sweltering day, know the symptoms of heat exhaustion and the potentially deadly heat stroke, how to avoid them and what to do if they kick in.
Microplastics are everywhere in Pennsylvania’s water – but the tide may be turning
| by Nathaniel Warner, Lisa Emili, Raymond Najjar
Researchers have long known that plastic pollution reaches the ocean. But how much plastic is trapped, and where, before it reaches the ocean is far less understood.