USDA Blog

When President Obama honored 94 researchers on Sept. 26 as recipients of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, chances are there was only one former pet-shop-manager-turned-zookeeper-turned-scientist in the bunch: Jonathan Lundgren. Lundgren works at the Agricultural...

This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the USDA blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from the USDA's rich science and research portfolio. What a long, strange trip it’s been for newly discovered South American varieties of cacao beans—all the way from the...

All Colorado State University (CSU) researcher Laura Bellows wanted to do was make a difference in people’s lives. She ended up being recognized as one of the most promising young scientists in the country. On Sept. 26, President Obama selected Bellows to receive the 2011 Presidential Early Career...

When it comes to expanding market share, increasing revenue and getting the word out about a great product or commodity, checkoff programs prove that there’s strength in numbers. Officially called research and promotion programs, checkoff programs give agricultural producers, importers and other...

President Obama has made openness a high priority, committing his Administration to an “unprecedented level of openness in Government” on his first full day in office. Since then, the Administration has disclosed more and more information requested under the Freedom of Information Act. We have made...

National Preparedness Month is a good opportunity to reflect on progress towards ensuring the security of our Nation’s food supply. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) considers defense of the food and agriculture sector critical– all the way from farm to fork. Some animal or plant diseases...

This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the USDA blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from the USDA’s rich science and research portfolio. Working in science can be a real pleasure, especially when your research translates into a life changing experience. The...

Brothers Richard and Jim Guldin both went to Penn State, both eventually joined the U.S. Forest Service and both ended up in forest research.You might say their professional path continues their family’s legacy.

With food, agriculture, and natural resources at the center of many of the biggest challenges we face today, nothing is more critical than making sure our agricultural system is based on sound science. As USDA’s Chief Scientist one of my responsibilities is making sure our Department’s research...

I have lived and worked abroad for most of my adult life, including many years in Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia, so it was not too difficult adjusting to life in the Brazilian Amazon. I learned to speak Portuguese in the field; my tutors were the field assistants that I hired locally. The...