Lauren Hodge, a 14-year-old high school junior from Pennsylvania, conducted an experiment with Cornell’s Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering's Soil and Water Lab earlier in the month.

Every fall I look forward to the reemergence of pumpkin in my life. I wait for the perfect fall day, cold and rainy with the leaves turning to red and orange, to take shelter in Starbucks and indulge in their pumpkin spice latte with a warm pumpkin muffin on the side.