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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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A river from above.

Spotlight

For 65 years, Cornell CALS has been a leader in biogeochemistry, an interdisciplinary field that studies elemental cycles through Earth’s air, land and water, and is critical to understanding climate change. The first journal in the field was founded by Professor Bob Howarth in 1984.
  • Environment
  • Climate Change
A man and a woman stand in a field of wheat, examining the growing plants

Spotlight

When Norman Borlaug said, “Rust never sleeps,” he was warning of the emergence of a highly virulent stem rust pathogen that threated wheat crops around the world. First identified in the wheat fields of Uganda, the fungal pathogen known as Ug99...
  • Global Development Section
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Global Development
A group meeting outside

Spotlight

  • Global Development Section
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Agriculture
Basil leaves with orange between veins, symptomatic of basil downy mildew

Spotlight

Nothing spells disappointment more during pesto-making season than visiting your basil patch only to find your carefully tended crop ravaged. But that is exactly what happened to Meg McGrath, a plant pathologist based at Cornell’s Long Island...
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Horticulture Section
  • Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section
Body of Water Near Green Trees Under Cloudy Sky

Spotlight

Jamie L. Vanucchi, assistant professor of landscape architecture, is interested in the merger of science and design—taking into account natural processes when planning a landscape. Her research is situated within the region, with an emphasis on New York State, NY's Great Lakes, and the Susquehanna watershed and focuses on the role of uncertainty in design related primarily to floodplains and climate change.
  • Landscape Architecture
  • Water
  • Landscape
Yellow daffodils outside on campus with McGraw Tower in the background

Spotlight

With the end of the semester in sight, we'd like to take a moment to recognize the CALS graduating class of 2021. During their time at Cornell, members of this exceptional class have explored the corners of purpose-driven science, traveled the...
  • Global Development Section
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Food Science
CCE Clinton County Senior Exercise with Mary Breyette

Spotlight

They Zoom in from New York City, across upstate and downstate New York, the North Country, and states all across the U.S. Four mornings a week at 9 a.m., thousands of seniors join Cornell Cooperative Extension of Clinton County Executive Director Mary Breyette’s online fitness classes looking for exercise and connection.
  • Cornell Cooperative Extension
A woman standing and looking out a window of a colorful food truck

Spotlight

  • Global Development Section
  • Agriculture
  • Global Development
A lighthouse on ocean cliffs

Spotlight

These experiences had a lasting impact on him — imparting both the beauty and value of marine ecosystems and the ways in which these resources are exploited. “Even from a young age, I saw how we currently live in a world undergoing massive...
  • Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
  • Biology
  • Environment
Group of Malawian farmers pose for picture in a field

Spotlight

  • Global Development Section
  • Agriculture
  • Global Development

Spotlight

Academic focus: My academic focus is in understanding how cells protect the integrity of their genome. This includes how chromosomes are repaired during DNA damage events and how they are even maintained during normal cell growth. Research...

  • Molecular Biology and Genetics
  • Health + Nutrition
  • Biology
A headshot of Lori Huberman

Spotlight

Academic focus: Fungal genetics and genomics Research summary: I study how fungi sense and respond to their environment. Specifically, I am interested in understanding how fungi sense available nutrients and efficiently utilize them. Accurate...
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section
  • Plants

Spotlight

Academic focus : Molecular microbiology, bacteriology, biochemistry and genetics Research summary: My lab studies how bacteria translate the genetic code into protein. We use genetic screens to identify new factors that interact with the...

  • Microbiology
  • Molecular Biology and Genetics
  • Health + Nutrition

Spotlight

Academic focus: Innovation & entrepreneurship Research summary: I focus on reducing barriers to the commercialization of science and technology, which I experienced firsthand during a decade as an executive and engineer at two startups in the...

  • Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management
  • Applied Economics
Joyce sitting on a rock in the forest

Spotlight

Academic focus: My lab focuses on the evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo) of plants. We integrate classical plant anatomical and developmental techniques with systematics, phylogenetic comparative methods, and cell and molecular...
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Plant Biology Section
  • Plants
Ginny Moore hiking outside up a mountain carrying hiking poles and wearing a hate and backpack

Spotlight

Academic focus: Breeding for sustainable cropping systems, cover crops, intercropping, polycultures, organic farming systems, Legumes, forages, alfalfa, hemp Research summary: My research focus is on plant breeding for sustainable cropping...
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Plant Breeding and Genetics Section
  • Agriculture
a man attaches wires to a plastic tray

Spotlight

In the search for more sustainable energy technologies, many of the solutions humans are turning to – rechargeable batteries, massive wind turbines, electric cars, LED lighting – rely on what are known as rare-earth elements. There are 17 rare...
  • Biological and Environmental Engineering
  • Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
  • Energy
a minecraft reproduction of Bailey Hall

Spotlight

Welcome to CornellCraft, a virtual world created in the videogame Minecraft. Designed by a cadre of enterprising students and recent alumni, this ersatz East Hill is a massive work in progress — and it’s more than just a pastime. Since the COVID...
  • Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management
  • Biology
cinnamon buns in a metal tin

Spotlight

For the past decade, Big Red foodies have been cooking up an increasingly impressive online magazine — featuring recipes, essays, travelogues, photography, illustrations, and more. And in the COVID era, the epub has only gained in popularity, as...
  • Food Science
  • Food
A group of students and professors stand in front of university in India

Spotlight

  • Global Development Section
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Plant Breeding and Genetics Section