Michigan State University scientists plan to build a first-of-its-kind outdoor lab to study how solar panels placed alongside crops could save water, improve soil health and support ecosystems, all while boosting farmers’ bottom line and preserving farm production.

Lansing is preparing to launch the first Bubble Barrier in the U.S., an emerging technology that uses a stream of air bubbles to push plastic out of the Grand River before it enters the Great Lakes.

A new study out of MSU, published in the journal Science, offers the first comprehensive global look at how drones are reshaping agriculture.

Dozens of MSU graduate students, postdocs, and professors gathered on Oct. 16, 2025, for an Early Career Professionals Networking Event hosted by the MSU Water Alliance.

This week’s articles by MSU faculty, specialists, and students making a difference feature climate impacts on Mekong River flooding, PFAS exposure linked to maternal mental health, and natural gas reactions driven by underground water and rock interactions.

Starting in 2014, Lake Michigan, like the other Great Lakes, experienced increasingly high water levels, peaking in 2020. As water levels and wave energy increased during this time period, so did beach, dune, and bluff erosion. 

Plant researchers are racing to build climate-resilient crops before global food systems reach a breaking point.

The Michigan State University Extension Center for Lakes and Streams released a new resource for anyone who spends time near Michigan’s waterways.

MSU hosted a two-day Climate Change Theatre Action event at Beal Botanical Garden and the Corey Marsh Ecological Research Center. It combined performance, ecological learning, and community dialogue as a way to confront climate change.

For public health officials, researchers, and community leaders, the end of swim season signals the start of another cycle. The work of testing water quality and tracking contamination continues well into the fall.

MSU’s Department of Fisheries and Wildlife (FW) marked its 75th anniversary with a two-day program Sept. 12-13, 2025, highlighting the department’s many impacts, including long-standing ties to water.

When a virus spreads through a community, the first warning sign is often in the sewer. Step inside MSU’s Water Quality and Environmental Microbiology Lab, also known as the Rose Lab, where scientists use wastewater to track viruses and protect public health.