![\"Michael](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/REG-L-MikeFidanza-01.jpg\")
Michael Fidanza (COURTESY OF PENN STATE BERKS)<\/p>\nMichael Fidanza, professor of plant and soil science at Penn State Berks, has been named president of the\u00a0Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture.<\/p>\n
PSPA was formed in 1785 to explore and promote best practices in agriculture. Early members were some of the most notable figures of the young United States \u2014 Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington. Charles Thomson, a founding member of the society, served as secretary of the Continental Congress and was a signer of the Declaration of Independence.<\/p>\n
Today, the society\u2019s mission to promote and expand members\u2019 knowledge of the many aspects of our diverse and economically important agriculture industry continues. It will also be involved in America250 to help commemorate the United States\u2019 250th anniversary.<\/p>\n
Michael Fidanza (COURTESY OF PENN STATE BERKS)<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is an honor to serve in this capacity, and give back to Pennsylvania\u2019s agriculture industry,\u201d Fidanza said in a release from the college. \u201cThis industry has supported my research and teaching mission by providing financial support, gift-in-kind support and employment opportunities for our agricultural science students at Penn State Berks.\u201d<\/p>\n
PSPA holds monthly meetings that focus on topics of interest to members that encourage learning about existing and emerging technology and how it impacts agriculture, natural resources, and sustainability, particularly within food production systems.<\/p>\n
PSPA also supports the next generation of agriculture professionals by offering scholarships that support their educational goals and opportunities that lead to pursuing careers in agriculture and the food industry. Notably, PSPA\u2019s archives are stored in the University of Pennsylvania Library and these valuable records are available for research scholars\u2019 use as well as the general public.<\/p>\n
Fidanza traces his own interest in agriculture back to childhood, where he worked on his father\u2019s mushroom farm in Chester County. His research interests focus on turfgrass ecology, the evaluation of plant health products (i.e., fungicides, herbicides, plant growth regulators), soil surfactants, seed technology, and cultural practices (fertilizers, biostimulants) in turfgrass ecosystems, and the biology and ecology of fairy ring disease in turfgrass.<\/p>\n
Building on his childhood experiences on his father\u2019s farm, Fidanza also investigates the benefits and uses of mushroom compost for the lawn and landscape, crop production and the environment.<\/p>\n
Fidanza will serve as PSPA\u2019s 239th president for a one-year term.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Michael Fidanza, professor of plant and soil science at Penn State Berks, has been named president of the\u00a0Philadelphia…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11169,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[2470,8781,349,182,139,28,128,130,129,706],"class_list":{"0":"post-11168","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-reading","8":"tag-agriculture","9":"tag-berks-country","10":"tag-berks-county","11":"tag-local-news","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-pennsylvania","14":"tag-reading-city","15":"tag-reading-city-headlines","16":"tag-reading-city-news","17":"tag-top-stories-reg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11168\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}