April 22, 2026

Princeton researchers take to the Rocky Mountains to investigate how disease epidemics spread among wild plants, in pursuit of making agricultural crops more resilient to pests.

• An ancient black pea found 13,000 feet up in the Himalaya mountains captured the attention of Princeton researchers Harman Jaggi, Simon Levin and Jonathan Levine for its ability to withstand climatic changes and drought.
• The Seed Farm at Princeton, directed by Tessa Desmond, is a center for local ecological research where students, scholars and community partners work together to grow rare, culturally meaningful seed crops to study how they thrive and preserve biodiversity. Watch this video to learn more.
• Building on nearly two decades of research, Martin Jonikas is exploring how a pyrenoid can be introduced into wheat, rice and soybeans to speed plant growth, increase yields, make crops more resilient to higher temperatures, and decrease water and nitrogen fertilizer requirements.
• Stories of farmers are vital to maintaining knowledge of farming techniques and traditions. The Heirloom Gardens Oral History Project is a collaboration among Princeton University, Spelman College and the Ujamaa Cooperative Farming Alliance to collect oral histories of people who have worked to preserve Black and Indigenous seeds and foodways through the southeastern U.S. and Appalachia.

• More than 2 billion people — about a quarter of the world’s population — lack access to reliable, clean drinking water. Rodney Priestley, Xiaohui Xu and colleagues have developed a solar-powered gel filter that can provide daily clean water in remote areas.
• Despite groundwater’s essential role in ecosystems and as a resource for drinking water, agriculture and industry, direct measurements of groundwater depth are sparse. Princeton’s Reed Maxwell and colleagues at the University of Arizona are collaborating to solve this problem using a data-driven approach. Read about the first-of-its-kind U.S. groundwater map in the Los Angeles Times.

• America’s leading research universities support farmers, ranchers and rural communities through extension programs, which operate in more than 950 counties across the country.
• Rutgers Cooperative Extension, through the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES), supports farmers through workforce development, youth 4-H programs, and agricultural research and education. Most recently NJAES collaborated on workshops with farmers in the state at the Northeast Agricultural Expo about drought management, pests, farm labor laws and more.

• In a follow-up to our March newsletter about higher education and the military, we highlight two stories about U.S. Marines. Craig Wonson, a retired colonel with three decades of active-duty service and combat, and Timothy Riemann, an active-duty lieutenant colonel, share their experiences at Yale and why it’s so important to continue military programs at Ivy League schools. Wonson says a fellowship at Yale was exactly the education he needed; Riemann says it’s the education the Ivy League needs.

More than 1,000 alumni and friends attended the New York Forward and Beyond event with President Christopher L. Eisgruber, many taking time for photos at the closing reception.

Stand up for Princeton by participating in this year’s Annual Giving campaign. Because of budget uncertainties associated with federal funding, the University will need to draw even more heavily on Annual Giving and other sources. Support is always welcome, and every gift counts.

Online
TigerSide Chats are virtual conversations in which the Princeton community hears directly from faculty and administrators.

May 5, 4:30 PM ET
Discover the Princeton Quantum Initiative at our next TigerSide Chat.  Join Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science Andrew Houck ’00 and Nathalie de Leon, co-director of the Princeton Quantum Initiative, to learn how the initiative, established in 2019, is pushing the boundaries of discovery around quantum information.

Anytime
You can watch past TigerSide Chats, such as “Terms of Respect: How Colleges Get Free Speech Right” featuring President Eisgruber in conversation with Gadi Dechter, the University’s vice president for communications and government affairs.

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Share your success stories with us and we’ll feature them in future editions of this newsletter. Email us at standup@princeton.edu.

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