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Keeping campus trees—all 6,800 of them—healthy and vibrant
Looking down on campus through a variety of colorful treetops, people walk by holding umbrellas

The changing foliage of Penn’s trees make even a gray and rainy day look bright. Campus staff take a proactive approach to maintaining the trees’ health.

Keeping campus trees—all 6,800 of them—healthy and vibrant

Caring for the trees on Penn’s campus—an official arboretum since last year—is no small undertaking. Staff from Facilities and Real Estate Services and the Morris Arboretum lead the way in ensuring that the University’s trees remain safe, vibrant, diverse, and beautiful.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Dry conditions may have helped a new type of plant gain a foothold on Earth
Pots on a table in a greenhouse filled with grasses in various stages of growth

Biochemical and paleoclimate modeling revealed that plants with a new photosynthetic pathway known as C4, present in several important crop species today, emerged when atmospheric carbon dioxide was still quite high, roughly 30 million years ago. Water limitations, rather than Co2, drove its initial spread, a Penn-led team found.

Dry conditions may have helped a new type of plant gain a foothold on Earth

Plants reap energy from the sun using two photosynthesis pathways, C3 and C4. A new study led by Haoran Zhou, Erol Akçay and Brent Helliker suggests that water availability drove the expansion of C4 species, which may help to explain how different plant lineages came to be distributed on the planet today.

Katherine Unger Baillie

How plants cope with stress
an irrigation field with minimal crops growing

Irrigated crops can grow with less water but are typically subject to increased salts leached out of the surrounding soil, which can put a dent in productivity. A new study led by Penn biologists has uncovered a way plants respond to salt stress—a pathway that could be manipulated to engineer more tolerant crops.

How plants cope with stress

With climate change comes drought, and with drought comes higher salt concentrations in the soil. Brian Gregory and graduate student Stephen Anderson have identified a mechanism by which plants respond to salt stress, a pathway that could be targeted to engineer more adaptable crops.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Can changing our diets save the planet?
hamburger bun stuffed with lettuce and no burger

Can changing our diets save the planet?

Brian Berkey and Karen Glanz discuss how dietary changes could impact the overall health of the planet, following the United Nations’ recent report on climate change.

Penn Today Staff

Growing a ‘culture of cultivation’ on campus
Penn Park Orchard

The Penn Park Orchard, located at the southeastern edge of campus, is home to fruit trees, herbs, perennial flowers, and more. Planting events set for this fall will expand the orchard's boundaries. (Photo: Cole Jadrosich/FRES)

Growing a ‘culture of cultivation’ on campus

Even on an urban campus, there are numerous places to coax food from the soil. From the Penn Student Garden on Spruce Street to the Penn Park Orchard, Facilities and Real Estate Services staff are expanding opportunities for the community to interact with an edible landscape.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Agricultural sustainability project reached 20.9 million farmers across China
Dou, Zhengxia collaborator Fusuo Zhang

A massive, nation-wide effort to improve yields while reducing fertilizer use reached more than 20 million smallholder farmers across China. Penn Vet's Zhengxia Dou partnered in the effort, which was led by Fusuo Zhang of China Agricultural University (center, holding plant).

Agricultural sustainability project reached 20.9 million farmers across China

Increasing smallholder farmer efficiency while reducing their environmental impact are critical steps to ensuring a sustainable food source for the world’s growing population.

Katherine Unger Baillie

More than flowers and food, campus garden grows community

More than flowers and food, campus garden grows community

  By mid-February, winter’s freezing temperatures and drab landscapes can seem like they will last forever. But for at least one staff member at Penn, spring’s verdant bounty is never far from her mind.