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Two potted plants sit side-by-side, the left plant has withered leaves

News

Worm pheromones protect major crops, BTI scientists find
As described in research published in May in the Journal of Phytopathology, these compounds helped protect major crops from various pathogens, and have the potential to save billions of dollars and increase global agricultural sustainability...
  • Boyce Thompson Institute
  • Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section
  • Plants
A man and a woman stand in a field of wheat, examining the growing plants

Spotlight

Wheat expert calls for global unity to avert future hunger crises
A global alliance of countries and research institutions, including Cornell, committed to sharing plant genetic material, has secured food access for billions of people, but a patchwork of legal restrictions threatens humanity’s ability to feed...
  • International Programs
  • Plant Breeding and Genetics Section
  • Global Development
In a press room, a man in a suit signs a bill while others stand behind him watching and clapping

News

Howarth advised on methane portions of NY's new climate law
“It’s the most progressive legislation designed to avert climate change that any state has put out there,” said Howarth, the David R. Atkinson Professor of Ecology and Environmental Biology. The New York State Senate and the Assembly passed the...
  • Horticulture Section
  • Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
  • Energy
field day

News

Workshop fuels discussion about biochar, NYS climate goals
As Gov. Andrew Cuomo was preparing to sign the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act into law, which he did July 18, researchers, policymakers and industry members gathered at Cornell’s pyrolysis facility in Leland Laboratory to...
  • Cornell Atkinson
  • Cornell AgriTech
  • Soil and Crop Sciences Section
A drone appears in front of four male researchers

News

By land and air, students to detect crop diseases with tech
Northern leaf blight – a devastating fungal disease of maize – often begins where farmers can’t easily detect it, far beneath the plants’ dense canopy. But a ground rover exploring the plants from below, in communication with an airborne drone...
  • Plant Breeding and Genetics Section
  • Agriculture
  • Digital Agriculture
A man examines broccoli growing in a field and takes notes on a clipboard

News

New software helps plant breeders bring out their best
Broccoli is in the eye of the beholder. A head of broccoli that might appeal to one person – perhaps because of its deep green color – may leave another cold, due to an asymmetrical shape or too-large buds. Cornell researchers participating in...
  • Faculty
  • Cornell AgriTech
  • Plants
A blue ocean with fish swimming in a school far in the distance and multi-colored coral in the foreground with a plastic back wrapped around it

Spotlight

A sea of troubles: Marine ecosystems send an SOS
Marine ecologist Drew Harvell was a University of Washington doctoral student in zoology in 1982 when she went on a research trip off Panama’s western coast with one of the world’s foremost experts in the biology of coral reefs. Then twenty-six...
  • Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
  • Animals
  • Biology
Close up of a bug eating a cabbage looper larvae on a cabbage plant

News

Do ladybugs help your garden grow? Depends on surroundings
When cabbage looper moth larvae infest a field, sustainable growers will often try to control the pests by releasing large numbers of predators, such as ladybugs. That way they can avoid spraying expensive and environmentally harmful...
  • Cornell AgriTech
  • Department of Entomology
  • Plants
Five students squat by a plastic kiddie pool holding a giant fish

News

Nice catch: Cornell scientists net 139-pound Oneida Lake sturgeon
In May and June during an annual lakewide survey, the researchers capture sturgeon for a census of living creatures living in the lake. This sturgeon, caught June 19, measured 72.5 inches and was estimated to be 20 years old. Lake sturgeon once...
  • Current Undergraduate Student
  • Biological Field Station
  • Natural Resources and the Environment Section
A student uses tweezers to examine a plant in a glass jar under a chemical hood

News

CALS signs new admissions agreement with Binghamton University
This is a 3 + 4 program that will allow qualified Cornell students to complete their Bachelor of Science Degree in Plant Sciences through coursework taken in their first professional year at Binghamton. “We’re thrilled to have developed this...
  • Current Undergraduate Student
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
A woman stands in a garden and smiles

News

Specht named new dean for diversity and inclusion at College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
As a member of the CALS senior leadership team and the college’s key diversity officer, Specht will lead college-wide diversity initiatives. These efforts include recruiting and hiring diverse faculty, supporting scholarship, and developing...
  • Faculty
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
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News

CALS faculty among recipients of White House early career awards
The White House has recognized four Cornell faculty members – Thomas Hartman, Jenny Kao-Kniffin, Kin Fai Mak and Rebecca Slayton – with prestigious 2019 Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). The awards were...
  • Horticulture Section
  • Soil
  • Ecosystems

News

Designer plants one step closer to growing low-cost medical, industrial proteins

Imagine if plants could be engineered to produce vaccines, pharmaceuticals, proteins and enzymes for medical, agricultural and industrial applications at a fraction of their current cost. A new Cornell-led study describes a major advancement in...

  • Molecular Biology and Genetics
  • Biological and Environmental Engineering
  • Medicine
Female student examines tall, blossoming plants

News

Designer plants one step closer to growing low-cost medical, industrial proteins
The market for such biologically derived proteins is forecast to reach $300 billion in the near future. Industrial enzymes and other proteins are currently made in large, expensive fermenting reactors, but making them in plants grown outdoors...
  • Molecular Biology and Genetics
  • Biological and Environmental Engineering
  • Medicine

News

Farmworker initiatives earn community engagement honor

Given by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), the award recognizes extraordinary community outreach initiatives by its member universities. Cornell was recognized for its interdisciplinary farmworker research and...

  • Agriculture

News

Farmworker initiatives earn community engagement honor

Cornell was recognized for its interdisciplinary farmworker research and collaboration initiatives, which collectively benefit thousands of farmworkers in 40 counties across New York state and beyond. The work began with the Cornell Farmworker...

  • Cornell Cooperative Extension
  • Agriculture
two young men and young woman stand outside of a barn

Field Note

Dyson alumnus brings lively new energy to Finger Lakes goat dairy
Dave Messmer ’17 has been learning a thing or two about dairy farming since he was six years old. Now, almost 25 years later, he is putting that knowledge to work at a new level as co-owner of Lively Run Goat Dairy in Interlaken, New York. In...
  • Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management
  • Agriculture
  • Food
Researchers and farmers pose for a picture

News

Plant breeding project gives East African farmers better leafy green option
Phillip Griffiths of Cornell AgriTech has a special connection in East Africa that’s improving the humble collard green to help smallholder farmers—and their communities—live and eat better.
Bowl of fruits and nuts

News

Cornell program celebrates 50 years of nutrition education
Nutrition educators from across New York state joined Cooperative Extension staff and university faculty June 17-18 for a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program.
  • Cornell Cooperative Extension
  • Food
  • Health + Nutrition
student in laboratory

News

USDA awards $1.8M to Cornell for packaging, beverage concentrate research
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture has awarded $1.8 million to two Cornell food science research projects.
  • Food