Penn State Trees

For years this Platanus occidentalis (a Sycamore tree) has watched silently as I passed by on my way to my office. It is a majestic tree standing between Henning Building and Ag Administration Building. Only recently have I been formally introduced and learned this tree has a name -- C464. I also know it is 44 inches in diameter, has a spread of 72 feet, and is 77 feet tall.

I came across this information quite by accident when my daughter showed me the Trees of Penn State site. Maintained by the Office of Physical Plant this site shows the location, history, and relevant details of every tree on the University Park campus. And the site has news, fun facts, and a lot of other tree trivia.

Make sure you explore the Search by Location link. It will show a map viewer with tools to find all kinds of information about the trees.

Check out the planting of the first elm trees at old Old Main.

Science for Your Life

Spencer Malloy, agroecology major, talks with student writer Natalie Jeanne Plumb last night in the Ag Sciences and Industries Building lobby. Malloy is answering questions for the Hall Talk feature in the college's Science for Your Life newspaper.

Anthracnose Disease in Sorghum

Walking across campus I was struck by the play of light from inside and outside the greenhouse. As the temperature drops and winter continues research in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences continues.

Surinder Chopra, associate professor of maize genetics, was recently awarded a $1 million grant by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture for his investigation of anthracnose disease in sorghum.

Just one part of the college's research program.

Evening Sunset

Walking home this evening and I see a familiar Sycamore tree illuminated with warm light. Another reminder that spring is not far off. This tree grows in the area between Henning Building and Ag Administration Building.

Campus slows as students and faculty head home for dinner, a quiet time before evening events begin.

Finding Green

Each morning on the way to my office I pass through the ASI greenhouses. It was nice to see some green grass, part of a turfgrass research project, and get a sense of warmer weather ahead.

You can see some of the fog on the lens that forms in the humid air of the greenhouse on the edges of the pictures. Warm air and green grass. Nice.

Warm and Cold

The warm glow of a greenhouse is always a welcome site on a cold day. Popped inside to make a few quick photographs of the turf research underway but the temperature and humidity change fogged up my camera. I'll return on another day when I have more time.

Work on Penn State Ag Science Magazine and a few other writing projects have kept me from pursuing more active images of research. Hopefully those projects will ease around the same time as the snow clears!