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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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News

Celebrating the CALS class of 2026
With the end of another academic year in sight, we’d like to recognize the CALS class of 2026. Throughout their Cornell journey, our students explored purpose‑driven science, cultivated their passions and built meaningful connections. Guided by...
  • Agriculture Sciences Major
  • Ashley School of Global Development and the Environment
  • Animal Science
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News

Wine’s leftovers could help wean chicken farms off antibiotics

A new study finds that grape pomace – the skins, seeds and stems left over from winemaking – may match the growth-promoting effects of antibiotic additives in broiler chickens, without the public health risks.

  • Food Science
  • Viticulture and Enology
  • Fruits
Actaea rhodostigma

News

Ph.D. student finds new flower in Finger Lakes forests

Actaea rhodostigma – or the pink baneberry – the first new flowering plant species identified in New York in nearly a decade.

  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Plant Biology Section
  • Plants
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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