Our vision

The Department of Natural Resources and the Environment is a world leader in scholarship addressing social and ecological dimensions of natural resources and the environment to improve environmental sustainability, promote the well-being of communities, and ensure access to sustainable energy and environmental resources.

What we work on

We create knowledge and facilitate learning to improve society’s stewardship of the environment and promote a conservation ethos for a sustainable planet.

Commitment to diversity and inclusion

We are a diverse department of researchers, educators, students and staff that seek science-based solutions to environmental problems and sustainable natural resource management. In our research, teaching and outreach, we recognize that the acknowledgement and respect of all stakeholders’ perspectives is essential for achieving just and sustainable solutions to today’s environmental problems.

Read more about our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

News

Solar panels

News

Trading some corn-ethanol land for solar offers ‘tremendous opportunity’

In the U.S., strategically converting a small fraction of land used to grow corn for ethanol to solar facilities could vastly increase energy production per hectare, as well as provide ecological benefits and financial resiliency for farmers.

  • Natural Resources and the Environment
  • Energy
  • Solar
A person in a forest with old trees and new plantings

News

Virtually all of the world’s maple syrup is produced in Canada, the Northeast U.S. and some upper Midwestern U.S. states, where natural conditions for maple sugaring are perfect: wet summers, cold winters and springs with fluctuating...
  • Arnot Teaching and Research Forest
  • Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station
  • Natural Resources and the Environment
Bobcat with a tag on its ear sits under a tree.

News

Researchers tracked 16 live bobcats in the state and found widespread exposure to avian flu, with evidence of bobcats surviving but also succumbing to the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain.

  • Natural Resources and the Environment
  • Animals
  • Disease