Animal Science

Welcome to the Department of Animal Science

The Department of Animal Science offers undergraduate and graduate programs on the biology and management of food, laboratory and companion animal species. Our goals are to discover and develop new techniques and information to benefit animals, agriculture and human health. We seek to accelerate solutions that support sustainable animal systems, and to translate scientific discovery, data-driven insight and innovative technologies into real-world practice. Our internationally recognized faculty have diverse interests in digital agriculture, animal nutrition, environmental sustainability, physiology and metabolism, forage and nutrient management, and genetics, genomics and reproduction.

Major in Animal Science

Animal science majors learn from internationally recognized professors in all aspects of domestic animal biology: breeding, genetics, nutrition, physiology, growth, behavior and management.

Animal Science Major

Learn more about what an animal science major can do for you.

Undergraduate Studies

International Opportunities

Check out the international opportunities available with the animal science major.

Learn more about international opportunities

Graduate Studies

Approximately 40 graduate students from a variety of disciplines belong to the Department of Animal Science, most of them in the field of animal science.

Graduate Field of Animal Science

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

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News

Teaching assistants scoop out the ice cream flavors and hand them to students

News

July 13, 2026

July is national ice cream month

A quiet revolution has been happening in the New York dairy industry over the last quarter century. Since a low production per cow ranking of 27 in 2004, New York dairy farmers have turned the tables and delivered many annual improvements in...

Cornell Cooperative Extension
PRO-DAIRY
Animal Science

A woman holds two test tubes and smiles.

Field Note

July 10, 2026

Coming full circle: Sarah Flanagan ‘26 strengthens her love of ag

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...

Animal Science
Agriculture
Field Crops

News

June 29, 2026

Cornell Yang Center for Wildlife Health awards seed funding to five conservation efforts around the globe

The CCF provides catalytic seed funding to spark pioneering applied research to advance wildlife conservation solutions. The fund prioritizes initiatives that improve the health of free-ranging wildlife and/or solve environmental problems via a...

Animal Science
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Communication

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a woman in a lab coat looks at a beaker of liquid — Diana Reyes Gomez prepares samples of SeaGraze, a product developed by Symbrosia based on the seaweed Asparagopsis taxiformis, for a shelf stability trial. Photo provided.

Contact us for more information

Thank you for your interest in Animal Science at Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
Reach out through the information below, or find a more direct point of contact for your inquiries.

149 Morrison Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853-4801
Phone: (607) 255-2862
Fax: (607) 255-9829
E-mail: ansc_mainoffice [at] cornell.edu (ansc_mainoffice[at]cornell[dot]edu)