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News

Intro to Oceanography: The virtual edition
Taught by Bruce Monger, senior lecturer in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, a shared unit between the College of Engineering and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), the era of COVID-19 and remote teaching...
  • Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
  • Environment
  • Planet
A zoom call pulled up on a laptop with a green mug next to it on the table

News

Appearance, social norms keep students off Zoom cameras
When the semester shifted online amid the COVID-19 pandemic last spring, instructor Mark Sarvary, Ph.D. ’06, and his teaching staff decided to encourage – but not require – students to switch on their cameras. It didn’t turn out as they’d hoped...
  • Behavior
  • Communication

News

Proteins unspool DNA so cells can take on unique properties
New research reveals how proteins, called “pioneer transcription factors,” help turn on key genes that give cell types their unique properties and functions. These pioneer factors, it turns out, help unspool tightly wound coils of DNA so that...
  • Molecular Biology and Genetics
  • Biology
  • Genetics
five different sorghum races lined up next to one another

News

Early breeding reduced harmful mutations in sorghum
A new comparative study investigates whether the same patterns found in maize occurred in sorghum, a gluten-free grain grown for both livestock and human consumption. The researchers were surprised to find the opposite is true: Harmful mutations...
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Molecular Biology and Genetics
  • Agriculture

News

Microbiology Chair Esther Angert joins CALS senior leadership team

“CALS is in a unique position to help the world navigate global challenges, leveraging our commitment to purpose-driven science and impact for the 21st century, the solutions century,” Houlton said. “We are delighted to have Esther Angert join...

  • Biological and Environmental Engineering
  • Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
  • Fish
Looking down on someone as they eat ice cream

News

‘Apple Commons’ licks ice cream contest competition
Your mind wanders, enjoying a dreamy vanilla base that features apple, cinnamon, maple and tiny chunks of graham cracker. It’s just like fresh, warm apple pie à la mode – only everything is frozen. You’re going to need a bigger waffle cone. In...
  • Food Science
  • Food
  • Dairy
Male graduate student and female technician work in an orchard.

News

New committee drives diversity, equity and inclusion at Cornell AgriTech
At Cornell AgriTech , CALS’ preeminent center for agriculture and food research in Geneva, New York, the success of research and extension activities are also shaped by a diversity of faculty, staff and students. Their unique perspectives enable...
  • Cornell AgriTech
  • School of Integrative Plant Science

News

Migrations initiative wins $5M Mellon grant for racial justice

Migrations: A Global Grand Challenge, part of Global Cornell, has won a three-year, $5 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s Just Futures Initiative that will bring together scholars across the university and beyond to study the links between racism, dispossession and migration.

  • American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program
  • Global Development Section
  • Global Development
Abstract art by KAR Robison

News

Community remembers undergraduate student, artist and activist KAR Robison
Robison originally attended Baylor University, where they took courses in pre-medicine, philosophy and African studies. They went on to work in the field of sustainable food marketing in both San Diego and New York City for nearly 20 years...
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Soil and Crop Sciences Section
  • Natural Resources and the Environment Section
A silver Cornell Seal embedded in pavement that reads "Any person, any study"

News

"Summit on Entrepreneurship and Equity" receives Belonging at Cornell innovation grant
As part of its mission to make Cornell a more diverse and inclusive environment for faculty, staff and students, the Presidential Advisors on Diversity and Equity (PADE) have awarded three Belonging at Cornell innovation grants of $15,000 apiece...
  • Behavior
A fish underwater

News

DNA in water used to uncover genes of invasive fish
In a proof-of-principle study, Cornell researchers describe a new technique in which they analyzed environmental DNA – or eDNA – from water samples in Cayuga Lake to gather nuanced information about the presence of invasive fish.
  • Cornell Atkinson
  • Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
  • Natural Resources and the Environment Section
three male researchers look at maize genes on a computer screen

News

Plant biologists reveal genetic patterns in maize development
A Cornell research team led by Michael Scanlon, professor of plant biology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ School of Integrative Plant Science, recently reported new insights into the patterns of gene expression in maize stem...
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Plant Biology Section
  • Agriculture
A pink starfish being held by a black gloved hand

News

Organic matter, bacteria doom sea stars to oxygen depletion
New Cornell-led research suggests that starfish, victims of sea star wasting disease (SSWD), may actually be in respiratory distress – literally “drowning” in their own environment – as elevated microbial activity derived from nearby organic...
  • Microbiology
  • Fish
  • Health + Nutrition
Two men stand on stage at a conference

News

Cornell startup awarded $600K to improve food safety
Halomine, a Cornell-based startup developing cutting-edge technologies for the sanitation of food processing equipment, has been awarded $600,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA)...
  • Biological and Environmental Engineering
  • Health + Nutrition
  • Biology

News

Center’s grants seed diverse research in the social sciences

Researchers posing those questions were among more than 20 awarded grants last fall by the Cornell Center for Social Sciences (CCSS). In total, two dozen projects led by scholars spanning 11 colleges and schools – on diverse topics ranging from...

  • Global Development Section
  • Nutritional Sciences
  • Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management

News

Sex peptide causes female fruit fly’s gut to grow

A new study of the common fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) has identified a protein in the male’s seminal fluid that triggers the female’s midgut to expand after mating. This widening and lengthening of the gut likely prepares the female for...

  • Biology
  • Entomology
  • Nature
Evidence of the emerald ash borer on a light brown piece of wood being held by someone

News

Cornell removing ash trees, as replanting effort launches
The university will be sending letters in the coming weeks to notify local municipalities and neighbors of the ash abatements. The latest removals are part of phases 2 and 3 of Cornell’s Emerald Ash Borer Action Plan to manage thousands of on-...
  • Arnot Teaching and Research Forest
  • Cornell Botanic Gardens
Smiling woman holds apple.

News

Cornell apple breeder named National Academy of Inventors fellow
Brown leads the oldest apple breeding program in the United States, located at Cornell AgriTech in Geneva, New York, part of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Her work supports the state’s robust apple industry — valued at $262...
  • Cornell AgriTech
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Horticulture Section
A male stands next to a tractor that is being driven through a field of short crops

News

CALS dean advises on carbon removal strategies
Benjamin Z. Houlton, the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, joined a group of experts working with the Energy Futures Initiative (EFI) to identify key pathways for terrestrial carbon dioxide removal that merit...
  • Global Development Section
  • Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
  • Agriculture
A black and white microscope image of soil

News

New imaging method views soil carbon at near-atomic scales
Improving such understanding may help researchers develop strategies for sequestering more carbon in soil, thereby keeping it out of the atmosphere where it combines with oxygen and acts as a greenhouse gas. A new study describes a breakthrough...
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Soil and Crop Sciences Section
  • Soil