Past News
Modern tomatoes can’t get same soil microbe boost as ancient ancestors
January 15, 2021
Tomato plants are especially vulnerable to foliar diseases that can kill them or impact yield. These problems require a number of pesticides in conventional crops and make organic production especially difficult. A Purdue University-led team of scientists has evidence that tomatoes may be more sensitive to these types of diseases because they’ve lost the protection offered by certain soil microbes. The researchers found that wild relatives and wild-type tomatoes that associate more strongly with a positive soil fungus grew larger, resisted disease onset and fought disease much better than modern plants.
Modern tomatoes can’t get same soil microbe boost as ancient ancestors
Turn off that camera during virtual meetings, environmental study says
January 14, 2021
It’s not just to hide clutter anymore – add “saving the planet” to the reasons you leave the camera off during your next virtual meeting. A new study says that despite a record drop in global carbon emissions in 2020, a pandemic-driven shift to remote work and more at-home entertainment still presents significant environmental impact due to how internet data is stored and transferred around the world.
Turn off that camera during virtual meetings, environmental study says
Combinations of Marginalized Identities Can Limit Climate Adaptation in Peru
January 12, 2021
New research hones in on the fact that individuals, households, and groups within the agricultural sector of Peru often adapt in different and unequal ways to the challenges that result from the changing climate. This study promotes comprehensive solutions that do not further compound the marginality that rural Indigenous people have long faced.
Combinations of Marginalized Identities Can Limit Climate Adaptation in Peru
Purdue-developed sorghum safer for grazing animals and takes stress off producers
January 11, 2021
Sorghum is a great crop for grazing, but livestock producers who use it always have some concern in the backs of their minds. Certain conditions, such as drought or freezing weather, can cause the plants to become deadly for grazing animals, and it’s not always clear when the forage is safe.
Purdue-developed sorghum safer for grazing animals and takes stress off producers
Planning for Sustainable Tourism
January 10, 2021
Sustainable tourism management requires careful planning according to our recent study of the GSTC Destination Criteria. Core to sustainable tourism planning is the development of a Destination Management Strategy designed to support the long-term sustainability of the destination community.
Deforestation drove massive Amazon rainforest fires of 2019
January 5, 2021
In 2019, unprecedented wildfires destroyed thousands of square miles of Amazon rainforest, roughly the size of New Jersey. The loss of biodiversity and invaluable habitats, release of carbon from the fires, and other socioeconomic and environmental consequences have concerned scientists around the world.
Purdue international partner cuts ribbon for new science and technology park based on Discovery Park model
January 5, 2021
The Purdue University-affiliated Arequipa Nexus Institute for Food, Energy, Water and the Environment in Peru soon will be getting a permanent administrative home. On Dec. 3, the Universidad de San Augustín (UNSA) held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the start of activities for the Science and Technology Park of Arequipa (PCT), the first institution of its kind in the country. Modeled after Purdue’s Discovery Park, the research technology park will house headquarters for the Arequipa Nexus Institute, underlining the continued impact and long-term nature of the collaborative project.
Purdue international partner cuts ribbon for new science and technology park based on Discovery Park model
Journal of Contemporary Water Research and Education: Challenges and Opportunities of International University Partnerships to Support Water Management
January 4, 2021
Check out the newest issue of JCWRE which features insight on how international university partnerships support water management. The newest issue features articles with multiple C4E and Nexus affiliates contributing.
Journal of Contemporary Water Research and Education: Challenges and Opportunities of International University Partnerships to Support Water Management
Purdue Professor to receive 2021 Society of Toxicology Education Award
January 4, 2021
The Society of Toxicology (SOT) has chosen Wei Zheng, a professor of health sciences in Purdue University’s College of Health and Human Sciences, to receive the 2021 SOT Education Award for his significant contributions to education in toxicology and his training of toxicologists for more than 25 years as a researcher and educator. Zheng will be honored during the Virtual 2021 SOT Annual Meeting and ToxExpo, March 12–26, 2021.
Purdue Professor to receive 2021 Society of Toxicology Education Award
Plastic pipes are polluting drinking water systems after wildfires – it’s a risk in urban fires, too
December 14, 2020
When wildfires swept through the hills near Santa Cruz, California, in 2020, they released toxic chemicals into the water supplies of at least two communities. One sample found benzene, a carcinogen, at 40 times the state’s drinking water standard. Testing has now confirmed a source of these chemicals, and it’s clear that wildfires aren’t the only blazes that put drinking water systems at risk. In a new study, we heated plastic water pipes commonly used in buildings and water systems to test how they would respond to nearby fires.
Plastic pipes are polluting drinking water systems after wildfires – it’s a risk in urban fires, too