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The lasting impacts of West Nile virus on Pennsylvania bird populations
American goldfinch.

Image: Fernando Burgalin Sequeira / 500px via Getty Images

The lasting impacts of West Nile virus on Pennsylvania bird populations

Using mosquito surveillance data, researchers at Penn Vet have modeled the occurrence of West Nile virus in Pennsylvania bird species. Understanding how species traits influence response to the virus will improve wildlife conservation and disease management strategies.

From Penn Vet

2 min. read

On the move: Water quality and antimicrobial resistance testing goes mobile
Arnav Lal collects water at Playa Baquerizo on San Cristóbal Island as a sea lion watches.

Arnav Lal collects water at Playa Baquerizo on San Cristóbal Island as a sea lion watches.

(Image: Lisa Mattei)

On the move: Water quality and antimicrobial resistance testing goes mobile

Penn researchers have developed a mobile field laboratory allowing them to test water quality and track antimicrobial resistance in and around San Cristóbal in the Galápagos.

4 min. read

Meet foxes, coyotes, deer and other wildlife neighbors
A red fox in the snow.

A red fox in Philadelphia caught by a trail camera last winter in Penn Vet’s Accessing Urban Nature Initiative.

nocred

Meet foxes, coyotes, deer and other wildlife neighbors

Penn Vet’s Accessing Urban Nature Initiative is documenting Philadelphia’s wildlife through trail cameras, and shares its findings after a year of monitoring.

From Penn Vet

2 min. read

The BioBlitz: Learn and explore right in Penn’s ‘urban backyard’

The BioBlitz: Learn and explore right in Penn’s ‘urban backyard’

Penn’s semi-annual BioBlitz brings faculty, students, staff, and community members to the BioPond in James G. Kaskey Memorial Park to closely examine, document, and appreciate the urban-ecosystem-turned-living-lab.

Students use machine learning to track and protect whale populations
Chinmay Govind writing equations on a chalkboard.

Chinmay Govind, a rising second-year in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, writes equations on a chalkboard in his team's research space at David Rittenhouse Laboratory. For his portion of the PURM project, Govind used AI to track and map whale locations.

nocred

Students use machine learning to track and protect whale populations

For their Penn Undergraduate Research Mentoring Program project, Chinmay Govind and Nihar Ballamudi leveraged AI to locate and census whales. The study may inform policy measures that help to improve protections for whale populations worldwide.

5 min. read

A hands-on education of Pennsylvania and New Jersey ecology
Three people walking through a field.

One of six field trips in Sally Willig’s Regional Field Ecology class took students to Natural Lands’ Mariton Wildlife Sanctuary.

(Image: Chi-Hyun Kim)

A hands-on education of Pennsylvania and New Jersey ecology

Sally Willig has been teaching Regional Field Ecology at Penn since 1999, educating students about plants, soils, and more at sites such as Ringing Rocks County Park and the Pine Barrens.

4 min. read

Native plants from afar
A diagram of areas where marigolds are native plants.

Image: Courtesy of Weitzman News

Native plants from afar

In a course led by 2024-25 McHarg Fellow Leah Kahler, students explored the movement of plants across cultures and climates, as well as the relationships between recreational and productive landscapes.

From the Weitzman School of Design

2 min. read

What the EPA limits on ‘forever chemicals’ in water mean
A glass of water being poured.

Image: iStock/Byjeng

What the EPA limits on ‘forever chemicals’ in water mean

Brianne Callahan of the Water Center explains the new regulations on PFAS, plus how they might affect consumer water bills, health, and more.

Michele W. Berger