We live in a time when no part of the natural environment is untouched by human activities. Great strides have been made in addressing many of the natural resources and environmental problems caused by human activities; however, population growth and rising standards of living continue to stress the natural environment and generate a spectrum of environmental problems that need to be solved.

Environmental engineers are called upon to understand, arrange and manipulate biological, chemical, ecological, economic, hydrological, physical and social processes to balance our material needs with our impacts on the environment. Such are the challenges of sustainability, while global climate makes these tasks all the more important.

At Cornell, environmental engineering majors pursue these challenges in a joint program of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Cornell Duffield Engineering.

Environmental Engineering News

McGraw

News

Two doctoral students selected as FFAR Fellows

Doctoral students Divyanth Loganathan Girija and Sumit Sharma were selected for the 2026-2029 Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research Fellows Program.

  • Animal Science
  • Biological and Environmental Engineering
A team of Cornell students work on a prototype of their weed-killing robot

News

A team of Cornell students bested the competition with their invention: an autonomous robot that kills weeds with electricity.

  • Agriculture Sciences Major
  • Biological and Environmental Engineering
  • Agriculture
Lirong Xiang/Provided Cornell researchers stand with an autonomous biosecurity system in a tomato greenhouse. With support from a 2026 Academic Venture Fund, they will develop robotic and diagnostic technologies to improve early detection of plant diseases and strengthen climate-resilient greenhouse agriculture.

News

Cornell Atkinson has awarded $900k to support six new research projects that seek to protect coral reefs, improve greenhouse agriculture and understand whether wildfires affect disease spread.

  • Cornell Atkinson
  • Ashley School of Global Development and the Environment
  • Biological and Environmental Engineering