Rice crops growing in a growth chamber.

Biological & Environmental Engineering

We bring life to engineering

Our unique focus to design and develop processes, products and systems using basic biological, environmental science and engineering tools generates solutions to societal problems involving water, food, energy and public health. Students increasingly need to participate in problem-solving across traditional boundaries. Rapid technological changes are an added challenge, with implications driven by diminishing resources and a growing population. We aim to enable our students to drive innovation as our discipline continues to be transformed by our changing world.

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.

Faculty and students conversing in a lab.
Minglin Ma, associate professor of biological and environmental engineering, working with students in his lab. Credit: Allison Usavage

Explore BEE

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.

Discover synthetic biology at CALS
Play CALS Undergraduate Research Experience: Gaby Markle ’26

News

Blue lines streak across a black background

News

Electrons travel one of two routes in nano-biohybrid systems

Researchers have identified exactly what happens when a microbe receives an electron from a quantum dot: The charge can either follow a direct pathway or be transferred indirectly via the microbe’s shuttle molecules.

  • Biological and Environmental Engineering
  • Biology
  • Solar
Close up of hands clapping with chalk

News

Dynamic acoustics of hand clapping, elucidated

With high-speed cameras, researchers measured the physical forces involved in a handclap, with potential applications in bioacoustics and identification, whereby a handclap could be used to identify someone.

  • Biological and Environmental Engineering
  • Behavior
A participant immersing themselves in Black Spaces Matter, a traveling exhibition curated by Pamela Karimi that explores the historical post-industrial city of New Bedford (2017–2019).

News

Cornell faculty honored for community-engaged innovation

Thirteen faculty members from across Cornell are being honored by the Einhorn Center for Community Engagement with this year’s Community-Engaged Practice and Innovation Awards.

  • Biological and Environmental Engineering
  • Energy
  • Climate Change
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