University of Delaware College of Agriculture and Natural Resources

08/28/2026

How did a particular species of kissing bug native to the southwestern U.S. and northwestern Mexico get to Portugal?

That question became the centerpiece of a scientific investigation led by University of Delaware assistant professor and medical entomologist Jennifer K. Peterson and her team of Blue Hen sleuths from her Medical Entomology class. Their research was published in the journal Parasites and Vectors.

Read the story.
www.udel.edu/udaily/2026/august/kissing-bug-europe-entomology-research-jennifer-peterson

08/20/2026

Nearly 80% of Delawareans view climate change as a serious threat, according to the 2025 Delaware Climate Change Perceptions Survey. It’s a concern rooted in geography as much as public opinion. Delaware is the lowest-lying state in the nation, with 381 miles of tidal shoreline vulnerable to rising seas, stronger storms and persistent flooding.

Now, the state is taking an aggressive approach to preparing for what comes next — and alumni from the University of Delaware are helping lead the charge.

Over two dozen UD alumni, including hydrologists, engineers, environmental scientists, transportation policy specialists and state planners—played active roles in the development and implementation of the updated Delaware Climate Action Plan.

Get the full story on UDaily.

www.udel.edu/udaily/2026/august/alumni-2025-delaware-climate-action-plan

08/14/2026

Cheers to 75 years! 🎉 This year marks the 75th anniversary of Delaware State Parks and for faculty and students at the University of Delaware there is much to celebrate. The parks provide a living laboratory for research, opportunities for experiential learning and a space for community service.

Our partnerships with the state parks include research on water quality, vector-borne diseases, and the preservation of historic buildings. As a land-grant university, UD’s mission includes sharing knowledge, research and resources with the community. Through UD Cooperative Extension's Delaware Master Naturalist Program, 785 volunteer hours have been logged in the parks so far for 2026 . Volunteers plant trees, manage invasive plants and create pollinator gardens.

“The state parks have been incredibly valuable in our work in that they allowed us to estimate the distribution of kissing bugs in Delaware,” said Jennifer K. Peterson, assistant professor and medical entomologist in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology. Peterson studies the connection between kissing bugs and Chagas disease.

Read more about UD in the Delaware State Parks on UDaily.
https://brnw.ch/21x4W5H

08/07/2026

08/03/2026

The Washington Post tapped ice cream experts from around the country for a roundup of travel-worthy scoop shops, including our very own UDairy Creamery Director, Jenn Rodammer!🍦

Get the scoop!
www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2026/08/02/these-us-ice-cream-shops-are-worth-trip-according-experts

From Alabama to Alaska, these scoop shops serve a taste of the destination.

07/29/2026

Yin Bao, assistant professor of digital agriculture University of Delaware assisted in USDA Agricultural Research Service research on flowering trends. 🌼

Bao built an artificial intelligence tool to analyze tens of thousands of photos from crowdsource network iNaturalist of four North American prairie warm-season perennial grasses. The AI tool, named FLORIST, sorted them into two groups: flowers showing and no flowers showing.

“It learned what a flower looks like from a few examples that we taught the machine to recognize,” Bao said.

Read about the research.
www.udel.edu/udaily/2026/july/research-artificial-intelligence-plants-yin-bao

07/22/2026

026 State Fair puts Cooperative Extension, UD in the spotlight as it celebrates America's 250th birthday

07/21/2026

Phosphorus gives plants their daily nutritional needs. But whatever phosphorus a plant can’t consume stays in the environment. It creeps into waterways and speeds up algae growth that can kill fish and aquatic plants.

Deb Jaisi, University of Delaware professor of environmental biogeochemistry at the University of Delaware, was fascinated by these properties. He has dedicated his academic career to exploring phosphorus and its presence in the environment, unlocking new ways to pinpoint where phosphorus, causing environmental harm, is coming from.

The UD soil chemist and Fulbright U.S. Scholar was recognized in June at the World Congress of Soil Sciences in China as a 2026 recipient of the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) Innovation Award, an honor given to one scientist around the world every two years.

Read the story.
www.udel.edu/udaily/2026/july/deb-jaisi-soil-sciences-innovation-award-phosphorus