We confront the most urgent and complex challenges facing people and the planet.

By uniting critical scholarship and practice at the intersections of agricultural, environmental, life, and social sciences, we advance a more equitable, sustainable, and food-secure world for all. Side-by-side with our diverse network of global and community partners, we engage in education with impact and create a flourishing world now and for future generations.

With a focus on education with impact, our transdisciplinary approach emphasizes real-world engagement on a global scale — with communities in New York State, across the United States, and around the world. Our dynamic learning atmosphere and academic culture goes beyond purely technical work to provide a balance of skill-building and analytical coursework toward transformative solutions.

A multidisciplinary approach

The world is complex. But we believe understanding is possible.

Wellbeing and inclusion

“A World that Leaves No One Behind”

Studying the causes, manifestations and consequences of poverty and inequality in the global political economy, the histories and legacies of development projects, and alternative models to promote wellbeing

Environmental sustainability

“A Greener World and Greener Economies”

Addressing strategies to mitigate or reverse the effects of climate change, helping people and communities adapt to new environmental realities, and researching the social and political dimensions of human-environment interactions

Food and nutritional security

“Sustainable and Sustaining Food Systems”

Identifying pathways to sustainable food systems while investigating the social and political dynamics of these systems across the cycle from cultivation to distribution, consumption, and recycling

How will you change the world?

Latest news

Discover how Global Development is committed to making a sustainable impact

Professor and students tour a rainforest

News

Study trips to advance engaged learning experiences in global development
A new style of engaged courses in Global Development will allow students to apply classroom-based lessons in real-world development contexts. Launching in the fall semester, Global Development will offer two immersive faculty-led study trips...
  • Department of Global Development
  • Global Development
Wheat graphic

News

The Borlaug Global Rust Initiative announced the 2023 Jeanie Borlaug Laube Women in Triticum (WIT) Early Career and Mentor awardees in recognition of excellence in science and leadership for a wheat-secure future.
  • Department of Global Development
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Plant Breeding and Genetics Section

News

In flood-prone New York, non-white homeowners are more likely to take active measures – like protecting a furnace or installing a sump pump – to prepare for deluge, says Cornell research.

  • Department of Global Development
  • Behavior
  • Climate Change

Land acknowledgement

Cornell University is located on the traditional homelands of the Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' (the Cayuga Nation). The Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' are members of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, an alliance of six sovereign Nations with a historic and contemporary presence on this land. The Confederacy precedes the establishment of Cornell University, New York State and the United States of America. 

We acknowledge the painful history of Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' dispossession, and honor the ongoing connection of Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' people, past and present, to these lands and waters.