Leadership updates

Chris Smart to be next director of Cornell AgriTech

Chris Smart giving an extension talk at a hemp field day event

Christine Smart will become the next Goichman Family Director of Cornell AgriTech, effective Oct. 1, 2023. Smart brings to the table a strong understanding of the challenges facing the New York farm and food community as well as Cornell AgriTech’s role in helping producers solve them as part of CALS’ Land-Grant mission. Olga Padilla-Zakour will continue as interim director until Sept. 30 and then return to her role as director of the Cornell Food Venture Center. Olga was appointed interim director following the retirement of Jan Nyrop.

New faculty positions

Cornell AgriTech programming expanded with the addition of three new faculty members. Each faculty member furthers the overall mission of our campus while addressing the evolving needs of our agricultural constituents. We are excited to complete searches for five to 10 new faculty positions in the coming year, as well.

headshot of a man with a gray background

Chang Chen will join Cornell AgriTech in June 2023 to help develop novel strategies for minimizing postharvest food losses and valorizing food waste in support of a circular economic system. His research areas include novel technologies to optimize the quality and ensure the safety of plant-based foods along the food chain, with a focus on newly developed or underutilized crops and digital technologies to monitor fresh produce quality and safety from farm to fork.

Jason Londo headshot

Jason Londo recently joined Cornell AgriTech as associate professor of fruit physiology and climate adaptation. Londo studies how environmental stresses such as temperature, water availability and soil chemistry impact apple and grapevine physiological performance. Londo’s research is critical to climate mitigation for NYS farmers.

Headshot of a woman outside in a blue shirt

Assistant professor Monique Rivera joined our campus to help solve arthropod pest problems in apples and other tree fruit crops through integrated, practical and durable pest management solutions. Rivera leads our tree fruit entomology extension program, working with state and regional extension educators and the New York State IPM program to deliver the latest information on the biology and management of important arthropod pests within an IPM framework.

portrait of Anna Wallis

Hired in November 2022, Anna Wallis is fruit IPM coordinator for New York State Integrated Pest Management. Her experience developing research-based, sustainable IPM practices and her commitment to building farmer and grower engagement through extension and outreach will prove invaluable to NYSIPM and fruit growers and producers in New York and through the Northeast.

photo of Germán Vargas wearing a beetle tshirt in front of a tree

New York's wine and grape industry will benefit from the expertise of New York State Integrated Pest Management's first-ever grape IPM coordinator. German Vargás, hired in early 2023, will be located at Cornell AgriTech's satellite location in Portland, New York.

Academic searches underway

  • Grape Breeding and Genetics, Horticulture Section
  • Applied Systems Ecology, Entomology
  • Extension Associate, Brewing Lab of the Cornell Craft Beverage Insitute
  • Up to five Controlled Environment Agriculture faculty positions that were developed as part of CALS’ 2050 Roadmap strategic plan.