Campus Snapshot

Jason Londo is an associate professor of fruit crop physiology and climate change. His research and extension pertain to climate challenges for New York state crops like apples and grapes.

“I think all scientists love science, but we also want to be able to help the world in a positive way. I like to say my nerdiness matters,” Londo said about his work to the Finger Lakes Times. “It’s a daunting but exciting opportunity.”

In her role as a human resources assistant, Jessica Townley handles all nonacademic and partial academic HR appointment management, position recruitments, employee relations and performance management.

“I think I am one of the few people, if not the only person, who has met everybody on campus. I love walking around campus and everyone knowing who I am. I love when people feel comfortable talking to me about whatever is on their mind, and to help them through a situation or get them the resources they need to be successful,” said Townley.

Alejandro Calixto is director of New York State Integrated Pest Management at Cornell AgriTech, which works to combat everything from ticks to squirrels, bats and many major crop pests.

“This is my dream job. I couldn’t ask for a better position. I am working with a great team and this is a great community,” Calixto said. “We came in during the middle of a very difficult time, and everyone welcomed us to this region. We are very thankful and I am very proud to work for Cornell AgriTech. It’s an amazing group of people.”

Kenong Xu is a professor of horticulture who helps growers maximize fruit quality and yields by improving the architecture of apple trees.

“My program is geared to identify and understand apple genes of economic and horticultural importance. In particular, we focus on genes that control fruit quality and tree architecture,” he said. “The findings are necessary for improving existing popular cultivars without losing their identity through gene editing. They are also useful for developing new and superior cultivars via marker-assisted breeding.”

As facilities director at Cornell AgriTech, Joe Remillard oversees a 55-person staff that takes care of the well-known campus greenhouses and building maintenance, does small construction projects and other work at AgriTech’s research laboratories, and performs custodial services.

“Part of my job revolves around the financial side – managing a budget for all these areas. It’s a bit of a challenge with limited resources, but we work to support research programs, the greenhouses, farm work, updating and maintaining the campus,” Remillard said. “It’s a daily job to look at the pool of needs – it could be anything from fixing a broken toilet ... to getting crops planted at certain times, and moving people around to get the job done. We have a really talented crew here.”

Lynn Sosnoskie is a professor of weed ecology and management in specialty crops. She helps promote crop health by helping growers best manage weeds in the field.

“It comes down to looking for new ways to manage weeds in our crop system,” Sosnoskie said. “We’ve been growing crops for a very long time in this country, and weeds have been a problem in our crops for a very long time ... and they will continue to be. My job is understanding why weeds are still problematic and working to identify and evaluate novel technology for weed control.”

Jen Neubauer, a graduate student at Cornell AgriTech, is working on a project that uses “wood adjuncts” – including white oak – to improve the flavor of wine.

“Wine is a complex, dynamic living art form that defies precise definition. There’s this subtle romantic allure that pervades wine that just seems to fascinate people,” Neubauer said. “You’ve probably heard people say the making of wine is just as much science as it is art. We’ve been making wine for thousands of years, and it’s part of most people’s lives to some extent, yet there’s still so much we don’t understand – which is pretty mind-blowing.”

Mike Quade is a lab technician for Larry Smart, a plant geneticist and breeder who has been leading Cornell’s cutting-edge hemp research.

“It has been an amazing opportunity for me to apply my scientific skills and curiosity to a plant that is akin to the ‘Wild Wild West,’” Quade said. “I feel the research I’m doing here in the Smart Lab at Cornell AgriTech is not only finding answers to valuable questions, but discovering things we never even would have thought to ask about a crop that has the growing potential to change the world.”