Scientists Find High Pressure Ridges Aren't the Main Players in the West's Drying Climate
A new report from an international team of climate scientists suggests day-to-day weather system changes have played a big role in a period of generalized drying in the western United States — and the cause wasn’t an increase in high-pressure areas but ra...
Researchers Track Origins of Toxic Catastrophe in the Himalayas
Attributing any specific instance of pollution to its source with scientific certainty, however, had proven difficult. Now, using the 2020 event as a starting place, an international team of researchers has developed a method for tracking the origins of a...
USU Bioinformatics Expert Hopes Big Data Lab Will Revolutionize More Fields of Research
Rakesh Kaundal's Contributions to Bioinformatics Push the Boundaries of Human Knowledge
Drought, wildfires, pollution: How should Utah tackle its biggest problems? Using ‘evidence,’ Gov. Cox says
"These are not Republican issues or Democrat issues, these are human issues and they are certainly Western issues," the governor said while standing in a room full of Utah State University researchers at the Gallivan Center on Tuesday.
Utah State researchers get close to $2 million to study state’s largest fruit crop
Black is leading a team of researchers from USU and Michigan State — each representing the country’s two largest tart cherry producing states — to use the nearly $2 million grant to study more efficient crop management techniques.
Utah Climate Center Winter Outlook Says More Precipitation in the North but Deepening Drought Likely
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently made an official declaration regarding the emergence of a second La Niña winter, meaning widespread cooling in the Pacific Ocean which impacts weather patterns far beyond its shores.
Researchers at USU awarded $1.97 Million to Study Important Utah Fruit Crop
A multidisciplinary team of researchers at Utah State University and Michigan State University have been awarded $1.97 million over 4 years from the United States Department of Agriculture to study more efficient ways of managing this major crop.
Flowers and Friends Make This Garden Grow
Most successful home gardeners begin with a plan. Few, however, go to the lengths of planning that plant science Professor Bruce Bugbee and his wife Diana West commit to each year that transforms part of their yard into a themed garden.
USU Irrigation Study in Cedar City Reducing Water Without Reducing Crops
A new irrigation study is underway at the Southern Utah University farm in Cedar City to determine how much water is needed to optimally grow crops. Utah State University Assistant Professor of Agriculture Matt Yost explains early findings in the study.
IN FOCUS Discussion: September’s climate change conversation
Matt Yost, Assistant Professor at USU talks about why he became interested in his field of study, how Utah performs with small and large-scale agriculture, what crops are affected with extreme drought and how producers are dealing with it, and more.
Newly Awarded Maple Syrup Research Grant
Youping Sun of the Plants, Soils, and Climate Department, has recently been awarded $500,000 in grant funds for a project dedicated to "Developing a Maple Syrup Industry for the Interior West Through Extension and Research".
New Research Suggests California's Wildfires Cycle has Been Superseded by Global Warming
The dominant force driving wildfires in California for hundreds of years may no longer be the key factor in the frequency or severity of these blazes.
Alumnus Honors his Father with the Dedication of the Professor A.A. Heravi Atrium
A space central to the Department of Plants, Soils and Climate in the Agricultural Sciences building has been named to honor Professor A.A. Heravi, a pioneer of scientific farming in Iran.
Students Receive Grants to Conduct Impactful Undergraduate Research
Three students working in disciplines within the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences were awarded Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunity Grants (URCO) to support conducting their own research in life, plant and food sciences this summer....
Data Scientists Uncovering Genes that Protect Alfalfa against Salinity Stress
Salinity is a growing critical threat to soils, water quality and food production worldwide. High levels of salts in water and soil interfere with plants’ abilities to take up the nutrients they need, create osmotic shock and ion accumulation in the plant...
PSC Awarded $36,000 for Invasive Plant Species Research
The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food has awarded Utah State University’s Department of Plants, Soils and Climate a $36,000 grant for work on medusahead and invasive mustard species.
'Best Case' Goals for Climate Warming Could Still Result in Massive Wildfire Risk
A newly published study finds even small increases in climate warming may result in significant increases in wildfire frequency and severity.
USU Undergrad Researchers Study Where Sagebrush Grows - and Heals
True-blooded Aggies love the spot where the sagebrush grows and they may have reasons to love it even more, say Utah State University undergraduate researchers David Suisse and Kayla Wasden Suisse.
Seeds Planted on the Path to Becoming Professor Creech
Although Earl Creech grew up on what his father called a “true” family farm — no hired help from outside the family and no one doing an off-farm job for income — he didn’t know until he was in college that being a scientist who helps farmers could be a jo...
Professor Jennifer MacAdam Named Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy
Jennifer MacAdam, professor of plant physiology and forage production in Utah State University’s Department of Plants, Soils, and Climate has been named a fellow of the American Society of Agronomy.
PSC Graduate Student Receives Grant
Danielle Theimann received a grant for identification of effective cover crop varieties and integrated management practices for weedy and invasive plant suppression in the Western United States.
USU Extension Co-hosts Public Hemp Seminar
USU Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources Department and the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF) host Utah’s first ever public hemp seminar.
Soils Science Graduate Student Earns National Research Award
Idowu Atoloye, a student in USU's Department of Plants, Soils and Climate, was awarded the Nelson Yield-Limiting Factors Graduate Student Scholarship by the American Society of Agronomy at its annual conference in November.
Plant Science Students Earn Top Honors
Students in Utah State University’s Department of Plants, Soils and Climate (PSC) earned several awards at an international conference hosted by the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS), including Alyssa Palmer and Anthony Whaley.
Plant Scientists Build on Wheat Research with $1.9 Million NIFA Grant
Utah State University Associate Professors Jennifer Reeve and Earl Creech were recently awarded more than $1.9 million by the USDA’S National Institute of Food and Agriculture for their ongoing research on organic dryland wheat.
PSC Student Named UServe Utah's August Member of the Month
USU's plant, soils and climate systems student Josh Martin was selected as the August 2019 UServe Utah's Member of the Month.
Soil is Not Dirt
This summer, Emma Thompson participated in international competition at the 21st World Congress of Soil Science in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. She judged individually and with a team representing the U.S.
USU Scientists Among Funding Recipients to Study Wise Use of Fertilizers
The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) recently announced that the Foundation for Agronomic Research has awarded nearly $2.7 million in grants to universities, including Utah State University, to conduct field research and demonstration projects.
Leading Atmospheric and Oceanographic Scientist to Give Seminar at USU
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Senior Scientist Michael McPhaden will give a seminar, “Understanding and Predicting El Niño: Why was the 2015-16 El Niño so Strong?” on Monday, June 10.
Climate History in Tree Rings Builds Understanding of Climate Future
Steve Voelker, assistant professor in USU’s Department of Plants, Soils and Climate, is the lead author of a paper published in Scientific Reports (a Nature Research publication) in March.
Hemp Research Underway at Utah State University
Scientists at Utah State University are studying cultivation practices to optimize the yield and quality of hemp for botanical medicines.
A plant named 'kochia' could help NM ranchers survive drought, changing climate
As weather patterns change causing the need for re-vegetation and livestock producers are looking for ways to provide nutritional forage for their animals, NMSU researchers are searching for forage plants that will adapt to the changing weather patterns....
Scott Jones Named Fellow of the Soil Science Society of America
USU soil science Professor Scott Jones was named a fellow of the Soil Science Society of America during the organization’s annual conference in early January.
Competing with Cheat Grass and Wild Fires--How One Plant Could Level the Playing Field
Researchers in Utah are working to introduce more fire-resistant plants into western landscapes to reduce the damage.
Hidden Climate Records Within Tree Rings
Researchers from Utah State University and two other institutions recently published a study that uses tree rings to link climate variability to long-term patterns in temperature.
Farming Mars
Bruce Bugbee recalls that on July 20, 1969, his mother called him and his friends to come inside because Apollo II astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were about to become the first humans to walk on the moon. It was possibly the only thing that cou...