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Breeding Possibilities for Better Crops

N.C. PSI News

Two people standing side by side next to a multipanel outdoor trellis made of bright white plastic.

Jul 24, 2026

Installation Bridges Playful, Eye-Catching Art With Agricultural Sciences

You’ve heard of the butterfly effect, the idea that a seemingly small event like a butterfly flapping its wings can have large consequences thousands of miles away. NC State designers hope the installation they call The Butterfly Effect have its own rippling influence. 
An open building space with people at desks and a whiteboard

Jul 24, 2026

N.C. PSI Welcomes Oil-Dri to its Innovation Hub

The global manufacturer and supplier of sorbent products becomes the 21st member of the Innovation Hub in NC State University’s Plant Sciences Building. 
Student presents on a TEDxNCState stage, with a plant image projected behind her.

Jul 24, 2026

NC State Grad Student Takes 3D Printed Plants to Center Stage

Stephanie Stewart, a Ph.D. student in biomathematics, shares fresh perspectives from the frontlines of research to advance 3D bioprinting of plants. 
Two people smiling as they pose

Jul 7, 2026

Dan and Jean Eddleman: Turning Roadblocks Into Stepping Stones

Dan, a College of Engineering alumnus, and Jean, a College of Agriculture and Life Sciences alumna, want to ‘pay it forward.’ The couple’s three-part planned gift, including the first such gift to the North Carolina Plant Sciences Initiative, will help support NC State University and its students for years to come. 
Man holds up three buckets full of ripe strawberries

Jul 1, 2026

NC State Wages Multi-Front Fight Against Strawberry Disease

N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative affiliates, NC State Extension specialists and other researchers are working on multiple fronts in the fight against a new disease taking a big bite out of North Carolina’s strawberry producers’ livelihoods. 

Jun 18, 2026

Microbial partners may help plants respond to higher temperatures

New research suggests the microbiome near the surface of a plant’s roots, known as the rhizosphere microbiome, may play a role in helping crops respond to heat stress. The research team includes three N.C. PSI faculty affiliates: Alex Woodley, Mallory Choudoir and Joe Gage. 
Man flies a drone over dormant turfgrass research plots

Jun 5, 2026

Harvesting Data for Agriculture

New tech for better drone-based data collection and analysis is helping turn agricultural research stations into farms of the future, and an N.C. PSI team is intent on delivering even more solutions to help farmers put data to work. 
Adult beetle with long antennae.

Jun 2, 2026

Mystery Beetle Unmasked

NC State researchers have identified a wood-boring beetle that could threaten the state's blueberry industry. With no insecticides labeled for use against this pest in blueberries, Lorena Lopez, an entomologist and N.C. PSI affiliate, has started trials to come up with solutions. 
Adrian Percy standing akimbo in front of the Plant Sciences Building

Jun 1, 2026

‘Evolution, Not Revolution’

Executive Director Adrian Percy describes what’s next for the N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative under a new strategic plan. 
Caitlin Kestell standing beside a scientific poster

May 27, 2026

Breeding Possibilities for Better Crops

From a young age, Caitlin Kestell learned to work hard, help other people and never quit. Now a crop science graduate student and N.C. PSI award-winner, she's putting a can-do attitude to work in research to benefit farmers and outreach efforts that inspire students.