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Field Note
by Jackie Swift Jasmine Dillon, assistant professor of global livestock sustainability, will be the first to tell you that animals are an important part of a sustainable food system. But, they will hasten to add, animals are not the only...
Field Note
Tucked away across the street from Frank Morrison Hall, in an unassuming greenhouse on the Cornell University Ithaca campus, live a school of tilapia: a freshwater fish eaten around the world. Their home consists of a row of giant aquarium tanks...
Field Note
Aaron Gómez Orellan and Carlos Durán joined Cornell CALS’ Nutrient Management Spear Program (NMSP) team this semester as undergraduate interns. Aaron and Carlos hope to get the most out of this opportunity by diving deeper into sustainable...
Field Note
Ananda Portela Fontoura PhD’22 is a postdoctoral associate working in the lab of Michael Van Amburgh , professor of dairy nutrition. Ananda’s research focuses on maintaining or enhancing dairy cow performance through optimizing nutrient use...
Field Note
As a first-generation global development major from Badakhshan, Afghanistan, Shabana Mahdis ’29 is interested in the ways agriculture connects with communities, sustainability, resources and development. She shares her summer experience working...
Field Note
Headlands are the areas bordering a field. Compared to the rest of the field, headlands are more exposed to wildlife, pests, disease, nutrient loss to weeds, and the elements. They are also at a higher risk for compaction because equipment...
Field Note
With hundreds of thousands of acres of corn in New York, it's crucial to support farmers’ efforts to optimize crop production. Yield varies in crop fields for many reasons, including soil fertility and topography. In a recent study, Cornell CALS...
Field Note
Catch a flight at LaGuardia Airport and you’ll find Plantaizin' plantain chips among the many snack options for sale. Not only does each small bag pack a flavorful vegan and gluten-free bite, but it also tells the story of a family-run business...
Field Note
Julianna Lee '24 joined the Nutrient Management Spear Program (NMSP) as an undergraduate. During her time at Cornell, she earned a bachelors of science in agricultural sciences and minored in education and Asian American studies. Read on to...
Field Note
The common tern is a sweet little waterbird, with white wings like an angel’s and a distinctive kee-er cry. They are fierce protectors of their families, fearlessly chasing down eagles and tirelessly building up their ground nests, which they...
Field Note
What sparked your interest in robotics, and how did your journey lead you to this field? I’m not actually a roboticist, which may seem unusual given that I study in a robotics lab. Our work extends far beyond building robots: We draw on software...
Field Note
If there’s someone that every animal science student knows, it would be Jeremy Allen, senior lecturer and director of undergraduate studies. And that’s for the better — from teaching to advising, Allen values helping students above all else. “My...
Field Note
Mirielle Sherman leaned over her scientific poster, making a few final adjustments before presenting her work at Cornell AgriTech’s Summer Research Scholars symposium in July. Photographs of grapevines covered the poster. Some showed cameras...
Field Note
Abby White, Agricultural Sciences, Cornell CALS ‘29 and Candyce Lee, Agricultural Engineering, University of Arkansas Pine Bluff ‘27, joined the Nutrient Management Spear Program (NMSP) as interns this summer. Candyce was hosted jointly through...
Field Note
Xingtan (Vera) Yu PhD’27 is a doctoral student working in the lab of Jingyue (Ellie) Duan , assistant professor of functional genomics. Vera’s research focuses on the effects of heat stress on the mammary gland of the dairy cow. We spoke to her...
Field Note
What sparked your interest in agriculture? In high school, we did an environmental science program and there was a section on agriculture. As a part of this, we all had to participate in the World Food Prize, where we picked a country...
Field Note
In this video, meet Matthew Norman-Ariztia, Ph.D. student in the Oravec Lab and National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow. Matthew is helping shape the future of New York’s grape and wine industry by uncovering what growers and...
Field Note
Kaitlin is on a mission to make melon growing more sustainable. Growing a melon is not as simple as planting a seed and waiting for a sweet summer harvest. From tiny seedlings to the fruit on your picnic table, melons face nonstop pressure from...
Field Note
In fall 2025, Matthew Haycook joined Cornell University’s Master of Professional Studies Program, with Quirine Ketterings of the Nutrient Management Spear Program (NMSP) as his main academic advisor. Growing up, Haycook was deeply integrated...
Field Note
Animal science major Arianna D. Edinbugh ’28 from Columbia, Maryland, was among seven students who traveled to Dallas to represent the college at the MANRRS 40th Annual Training Conference and Career Expo in April. The National Society of MANRRS...
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