Five people standing in front of a greenhouse

Growing the Talent Pipeline

68 graduate students performed hands-on research

To support the future of food and agriculture, our expert faculty educate the best up-and-coming minds so they can lead the next wave of breakthroughs. We translate our research into information, training and education to build a foundation for students to one day support the farmers and entrepreneurs of tomorrow. 

Like faculty on the Geneva campus, graduate student research is very purpose-driven, with the goal of enriching food and agriculture through new discoveries. Over the past fiscal year, our students performed research in our fields, labs and greenhouses, and extended their knowledge to producers and processors across New York state. 

Graduate student highlights

Eric Branch: He’s got the beet

Graduate student Eric Branch’s research focuses on management and biology of a soilborne fungal pathogen, Rhizoctonia solani. This pathogen can survive in the soil for several years and is a threat to the New York state beet industry.

Maylin Murdock: Cultivating data for hemp breeders

To help solve hemp production challenges in New York, Maylin Murdock researches high-throughput phenotyping approaches and applications in hemp breeding. Using sensors and imaging technologies, Murdock captures large amounts of data at the field scale that could help breeders develop more successful hemp varieties.

Fernando Romero Galvan: Developing scalable disease detection in grapevines

Fernando Romero Galvan is the first graduate student in the School of Integrative Plant Science to receive NASA’s FINESST (Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology) award. Galvan is working to find solutions to major diseases impacting the New York grape industry through cutting-edge research that integrates digital agriculture technologies.

Two people examine beets in a storage area
A woman wearing sunglasses uses a drone controller outside in a sunny field
A man in a vineyard with a phone in his hand

Summer Scholars Program highlights

Cornell AgriTech offers a Summer Research Scholars Program where undergraduate students from around the country have the opportunity to work with faculty, their graduate students and postdocs, and staff on research projects that can be laboratory or field-based. 

Many of our basic research projects have a translational alignment with practical problem-solving applications for the agricultural community. The goal of the program is to provide undergraduates with the opportunity to plan and conduct experiments, evaluate data, communicate results and learn about opportunities in agricultural and food research.

The program is an outstanding graduate recruitment tool, as many students decide to continue on to graduate school at Cornell.

A group of college students standing in a grassy garden

100

Applicants

40

Total students accepted

27

colleges and universities represented

In 16 states

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