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Discover CALS

See how our current work and research is bringing new thinking and new solutions to some of today's biggest challenges.

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Research

We accelerate purpose-driven science by supporting inquiry that crosses disciplinary boundaries and stretches from discovery to invention.

Purpose-driven science? We literally wrote the book on it.

The first undergraduate textbooks in mammology, ornithology and food science? Check. The first successful integration of botany and zoology in 1967’s Biological Science? Check. A 1925 handbook of nature study that is still a primary resource on the subject? Check.

The research of Cornell CALS scientists, students and staff hasn’t just informed discovery and innovation, but it is also the foundation upon which fields of study have been built.

In this section

Undergraduate research

Discovering new genes

Cameron Xu ’26 is using biometry and statistics to help Cornell CALS animal science professor Vimal Selvaraj identify new genes. Together, they’re investigating how steroid hormones regulate the body’s processes, uncovering new knowledge that could advance cancer research and solve other human health challenges.

Explore synthetic biology at CALS
Play CALS Undergraduate Research Experience: Cameron Xu '26

Latest news, discoveries and breakthroughs

Explore the work we’re doing today and discover how it’s reshaping tomorrow.

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Field Note

Brooks Crickard’s lab uncovers secrets of cell replication
Brooks Crickard , assistant professor of molecular biology and genetics in Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, studies the mechanisms cells use to self-correct when DNA replication goes wrong, including the strategies enzymes use...
  • Molecular Biology and Genetics
embryo freezing

News

Improved embryo freezing technique could preserve endangered species

The new freezing method – 30 times faster than current protocols – could be used to improve assisted reproduction in humans or animals or to conserve biodiversity.

  • Animal Science
Illustration of DNA

News

DNA “nicks” make for safer, more precise genetic analysis

Cornell researchers developed a safer and more precise way to study how genes function in living tissues by refining a recently developed CRISPR-based genetic technique in fruit flies, enabling researchers to better study how genes contribute to...

  • Molecular Biology and Genetics
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Research in lab

Undergraduate opportunities

Plant Science researchers working in a lab.
Graduate student grants

Opportunities include Andrew W. Mellon Student Research Grants, Arthur Boller Research Fund, Kieckhefer Adirondack Fellowships and Grant Proposal Application Instructions

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Faculty research support