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

Car submerged under flooding waters

News

AI improves flood projections under climate change

Physics-based models should be supplemented with AI hydrological models rather than relying on site-specific estimates, researchers find.

  • Biological and Environmental Engineering
  • Climate Change
  • Water
Students holding hands crossing a creek

News

Students learn in global communities

International summer experiences sent groups of students abroad to pursue their personal and professional goals. At the Nov. 19 International Research Showcase, they'll share their work with the Cornell community.

  • Biological and Environmental Engineering
Gerald Chan poses with two attendees of CALS Innovation Day

News

CALS Innovation Day celebrates transdisciplinary research
AI-powered precision farming systems, smart insect traps for pest control and nutrient-enhanced crops were some of the projects showcased at the second CALS Innovation Day, hosted by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ Research and...
  • Biological and Environmental Engineering
  • Microbiology
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
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