Purdue Agriculture

Congratulations to Brady Hardiman on being named a 2026 Purdue University Faculty Scholar!

Hardiman, associate professor of Purdue Forestry and Natural Resources and Purdue University SEE, has been recognized for his contributions to the initiative, using the latest innovations in technology and AI to solve complex global issues.

Through the Institute for Digital Forestry, Hardiman’s research combines digital technologies like remote sensing with ecology and social science to advance sustainable solutions, making the world a greener place for everyone.

Brady Hardiman named 2026 University Faculty Scholar for bringing communities and trees together to grow better cities Brady Hardiman, associate professor of forestry and natural resources and sustainability engineering and environmental engineering, has been named a 2026 University Faculty Scholar for his research in the Institute for Digital Forestry on urban forestry, remote sensing, ecology and social science.

The Midwest may be known for its fields of corn and soybeans, but it also has the potential to build a thriving “blue” economy.

Long before farms and cities existed, a shallow sea covered much of Indiana and the Midwest. For hundreds of millions of years, seafood was one of the region’s primary natural food resources.

What if seafood could once again become a large part of the Midwest's food system through aquaponics?

Researchers at Purdue Forestry and Natural Resources, including postdoctoral scientist Aya Hussain, are exploring that possibility through the When Blue is Green project.

By combining fish farming, plant production and innovative waste-to-energy approaches, this research is helping reimagine what food production could look like in the Midwest.

https://ag.purdue.edu/news/2026/06/aquaponics-project-seeks-to-boost-midwest-seafood-production.html

H**p seed, once considered just a by-product of the h**p fiber industry, is now gaining serious attention for its nutritional value and potential benefits in improving gut health.

In a recent preliminary study from Purdue Food Science, researchers found that h**p seed consumption reduced colonic inflammation and relieved tissue damage in a dextran sulfate sodium-induced inflammatory bowel disease mouse model.

Building on these findings, Weicang Wang, an assistant professor in Purdue University's food science, along with his team, has received funding from USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture to further investigate how h**p seed interacts with the gut microbiota to prevent inflammatory bowel disease.

Learn more about this research:

Eat your h**p heart out — the benefits of h**p seeds on gut health One hundred years ago, fish and shellfish were frequent visitors to dinner plates around the world. While not common knowledge at the time, the fish had oils containing about equal parts omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, essential components for cell membranes, that are primarily abso...

Huge congratulations to The Purdue Pullers! 🚜🏆

The team recently competed at the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE)'s International Quarter-Scale Tractor Student Design Competition, bringing home an impressive third-place finish.

In addition to their overall placement, they received third place in the Performance Events and the Serviceability Award for their tractor design.

This achievement reflects countless months of hard work, innovation and dedication invested by the entire team, led by students Will Ratcliff and Andrew Chen and supported by the mentorship of Purdue University ABE's John Evans and ‌Logan Heusinger.

Boiler Up, Purdue Pullers 🖤💛

Purdue University researchers are helping advance the future of sustainable fuels with soybeans!

A team from Purdue’s Laboratory of Renewable Resources Engineering has developed a new process to produce soybean-based biokerosene that can be blended into cold-weather biodiesel and sustainable aviation fuel, reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

This research was led and tested by Nathan Mosier, Indiana Soybean Alliance Soybean Utilization Endowed Chair and head of Purdue University ABE, alongside senior bioprocess engineering research scientist Junli Liu and graduate students Elena Robles Molina.

Beyond its environmental benefits, this innovation, funded by ISA, could expand the market for locally grown soybeans.



https://ag.purdue.edu/news/2026/06/novel-method-produces-sustainable-soybean-based-biokerosene-for-cold-weather-use.html

Did you know that low-moisture foods like dried fruits and flour can house pathogenic bacteria?

With California being the biggest almond producer in the world, Purdue University's Han Chen, a postdoctoral scholar in the lab of Purdue Food Science’s Betty Feng, has partnered with CALIFORNIA ALMONDS to determine how growers, processors and industry leaders can work together to strengthen food quality and safety practices.

In a review published in the journal Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Safety, Chen and co-authors examined how the California almond industry responded to Salmonella outbreaks in the early 2000s, highlighting California Almond Board’s “gold standard” approach to food safety management.



https://ag.purdue.edu/news/2026/06/a-food-safety-success-story-california-almonds.html