About our department
Welcome to the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering (BEE) in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Our department is one of the largest of its kind in the country, with a very diverse faculty, staff and student population. We serve three integrated functions: teaching the next generation of undergraduate and graduate students, research on problems in biology and the environment, and public outreach to help society implement new knowledge.
Undergraduate research
Improving therapeutics for Type 1 diabetes
Gaby Markle ’26 was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 4 years old. Working with Cornell CALS biological and environmental engineering professor Minglin Ma, Gaby is researching potential treatments using synthetic biology.
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A Cornell-led research project is developing robots that can perform labor-intensive orchard operations; it’s supported by a four-year, $7.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Specialty Crop Research Initiative.
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Researchers and extension staff translated complex research into a hands-on curriculum – including the construction and deployment of floating robots – for New York State teachers and their students.
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Doctoral students Divyanth Loganathan Girija and Sumit Sharma were selected for the 2026-2029 Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research Fellows Program.