New Faculty & Programs

38 total faculty members on the Geneva campus

In 2019, Cornell AgriTech programming significantly expanded with the addition of three new faculty members as well as an institute devoted to the support of the craft beverage industry in New York state. Each faculty member furthers the overall mission of our campus while addressing the evolving needs of our agricultural constituents. The new institute will strengthen the rapidly expanding craft beverage movement.

New Faculty

Grape diseases

Kaitlin (Katie) Gold, joined Cornell AgriTech in February 2020 as assistant professor of plant pathology and plant-microbe biology. Gold researches how proximal and remote sensing can be used to make earlier, faster, and more accurate grape disease detection and management decisions. Her goal is to combine new sensing technologies, data science, and fundamental plant pathology to improve integrated grape disease management.

Digital agriculture

Yu Jiang, assistant professor of research, joined Cornell AgriTech in December to help further digital agriculture initiatives on our campus. His research program will focus on developing, evaluating and commercializing engineering systems for use in specialty crop management and breeding. Jiang will collaborate with many different faculty members in Geneva across disciplines.

A caucasian female sitting in a chair in an office with a white board behind her

Crop weed management

Lynn Sosnoskie, assistant professor of weed ecology and management for specialty crop systems joined us in September 2019 and her research focuses on weed biology, ecology and management in specialty crop systems. Sosnoskie will work with a variety of crops and will be an asset to growers across the state.

Cornell Craft Beverage Institute

Newly named in 2019, the Cornell Craft Beverage Institute encompasses our Cornell Enology Extension Laboratory, the Craft Beverage Analysis Laboratory (formerly the New York State Wine Analytical Lab) and the Cornell Brewing Extension Laboratory. With the explosion of demand across the state for craft beverages, the lab now goes beyond wine, extending into beer, hard cider and spirits.

The institute is New York’s one-stop reference desk for fermented beverages. Scientists conduct analyses for commercial producers and answer questions by phone or email. For complex problems, the Cornell extension staff visit farms or processing facilities across New York.