All posts by Tori Indivero

Earth & Environment

Keeping farmers in the field

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Goetz-land-grant-programs-helped-keep-farmers-on-the-farm

The infographic above illustrates findings from a study by The Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development at Penn State on the effects of public investment in Land Grant University programs. Agricultural economists Stephan Goetz and Meri Davlasheridze found that agricultural research and Cooperative Extension programs helped more than 137,000 farmers stay on the farm between 1984 and 2010.

Goetz is director of the Northeast Center, as well as professor of agricultural and regional economics. Davlasheridze is assistant professor of marine sciences at Texas A&M at Galveston.

This graphic originally appeared on the Center’s site.  You can view a larger version of it here.

Members of the news media interested in talking to Goetz should contact Kristen Devlin at krd111@psu.edu.

Earth & Environment

Probing Question: Are bees suffering from malnutrition?

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Christina Grozinger is distinguished professor of entomology, and director of Penn State’s Center for Pollinator Research. Her research explores the biology and health of honey bees and other pollinators. Using a multidisciplinary approach, Grozinger and colleagues address the complex stressors facing pollinators. Listen in as she updates us on the crisis and notes some ways we might mitigate and reverse the downward trend in pollinator health.

For more information about Penn State’s efforts on developing and restoring landscapes and gardens to provide nutrition for pollinators, visit the Center for Pollinator Research website. The Center is an international leader in the area of pollinator health, and brings together scientists, educators, and stakeholders to address the pollinator crisis.

Probing Questions videos showcase our faculty as they share their views on the question of the day, ranging from scientific advances to social trends and pop culture. We invite you to follow along! Please email series producer Melissa Beattie-Moss at mbmoss@psu.edu with ideas, comments and questions.

Society & Culture

Focus on research: Rethinking the notion of a second Holocaust

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By Boaz Dvir

As a documentary filmmaker, I change my mind about societal issues related to my projects much like kids experience growth — I only notice it months, sometimes years, later.

Directing and producing “Jessie’s Dad,” which captures the transformation of an uneducated truck driver into an effective child-protection activist following the loss of his daughter to a repeat sex offender, altered my point of view on mandatory sentencing. Making “Discovering Gloria,” which paints the portrait of an average teacher who became an innovative trailblazer after her inner-city school failed its No Child Left Behind exam, made me feel quite differently about standardized testing.

Isn’t that what Holocaust Remembrance Day is all about? To make sure it never, ever happens again?

Gearing up for the May 4 Baltimore screening of my latest documentary, “A Wing and a Prayer,” I’ve noticed that it’s happened again: My thinking has shifted on a key topic, and my brain has only now bothered to notify me.

This time, it’s the Holocaust.

Continue reading Focus on research: Rethinking the notion of a second Holocaust →

Society & Culture

Focus on research: Unilateral presidential power in an age of polarized politics

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President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued the most executive orders at 3,721. Image in the public domain, downloaded from Wikimedia Commons.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued far more executive orders than any other U.S. president to date. Image: Public domain, downloaded from Wikimedia Commons.

By Mark Major

Presidential power, especially their unilateral authority, has been a fierce point of contention in the Obama era. Recently, 43 senators, all Republican, filed a friend-of-the-court brief challenging President Barack Obama’s, as they put it, “extra-constitutional assertion of a unilateral executive power” over immigration policy. The public, and many in the press, assume that the controversy centers on an executive order. This is incorrect.

In the case of Obama’s immigration reform, it deals with “prosecutorial discretion.” Regardless of the term, unilateral executive powers are a compelling, and long overdue, topic for national discussion. Despite this high level of attention to Obama’s unilateral actions on immigration, health care, and gun reform, we have little understanding of this unique presidential power.  Continue reading Focus on research: Unilateral presidential power in an age of polarized politics →

Health & Medicine, Society & Culture

You say you want a (sleep) revolution

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Within the past few years, author and media mogul Arianna Huffington has made sleep health her pet project. In her 2010 TED talk, Huffington encouraged her audience to make sleep a priority: “The way to a more productive, more inspired, more joyful life is to get enough sleep,” she said. “We are going to sleep our way to the top — literally!”

Earlier this month, she published her latest book, The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time. To promote the book, and raise awareness about healthy sleep, Huffington has started the Sleep Revolution College Tour. Recently, Schreyer Honors scholar Alayna Kennedy worked with the Schreyer Honors College and alum Lou D’Ambrosio to bring the tour to Penn State, where students learned about healthy sleep habits and received sleep kits.

I touched base with Orfeu Buxton, a Penn State associate professor of biobehavioral health and a sleep health expert who specializes in sleep, health, and society, and asked him a few questions about the particular issue of sleep and college students.  Continue reading You say you want a (sleep) revolution →