Professors from Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences are among the most highly cited researchers in the world.
Ed Buckler, Jim Giovannoni, Mario Herrero, Jean-Luc Jannink, Johannes Lehmann, Rui Hai Liu, Yiqi Luo, Susan McCouch, Lukas Mueller, Zhangjun Fei, Joe Regenstein and Mark Sorrells all made the list of most influential scientists by Clarivate and the Web of Science. The annual ranking aggregates a list of individuals at universities, research institutes and commercial organizations who have demonstrated a disproportionate level of significant and broad influence in their fields of research. Recognized scientists rank in the top 1% by citations for field and publication year.
- Ed Buckler, a plant geneticist with the USDA Agricultural Research Service who holds an adjunct appointment with the School of Integrative Plant Science (SIPS), was recognized in two categories: molecular biology and genetics; and plant and animal science. The Buckler Lab for Maize Genetics and Diversity uses functional genomic approaches to dissect complex traits in maize, biofuel grasses, and grapes. His work focuses on both quantitative and statistical genetics in maize as well as other crops such as cassava.
- Jim Giovannoni, recognized in the plant and animal science field, is a plant molecular biologist with the USDA-ARS Robert W. Holley Center for Agriculture and Health, a professor at BTI and an adjunct professor in the School of Integrative Plant Science (SIPS). His research team's focus is on the molecular and genetic analysis of fruit ripening and related signal transduction systems with emphasis on the relationship of fruit ripening to nutritional quality, particularly in the tomato. The group has made discoveries that could improve the flavor, nutrition and shelf-life of tomatoes.
- Mario Herrero, appearing on the prestigious list for the fourth straight year, was recognized in the highly selective cross-field category for the transdisciplinary foundations of his research. A Professor of sustainable food systems and global change in the Department of Global Development, a Cornell Atkinson Scholar, and a Nancy and Peter Meinig Family Investigator in the Life Sciences, Herrero’s contributions to the research community include forward-thinking analyses on the future of food systems, quantification of the mitigation potentials of agriculture and food, studies on healthy diets from sustainable food systems, livestock systems, climate impacts on livestock systems, and biodiversity. He has also explored how the emergence of new technologies or social solutions can impact sustainable Development Goals. He is a prolific writer in journals of the Nature family, Science, Lancet Planetary Health and Proceedings on the National Academy of Sciences on topics related to food system transformation within environmental limits, and natural climate solutions.
- Jean-Luc Jannink, research geneticist at the USDA-ARS Robert W. Holley Center for Agriculture & Health and adjunct professor at SIPS, was recognized in the cross-field category. His primary focus is on developing statistical methods to use DNA markers in public sector small grains breeding.
- Johannes Lehmann, a Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor in SIPS and a professor in the Department of Global Development, is a globally renowned expert in soil carbon stabilization and global-scale carbon and nutrient cycles. This year he was recognized across the two categories of agricultural sciences and environment and ecology; since 2014, he has been recognized 15 times across those two categories.
- Rui Hai Liu, professor in the Department of Food Science, focuses his research on diet and health. His expertise ranges from diet and cancer, the effects of functional foods and bioactive compounds on chronic disease risks targeted at cancers, aging, and inflammatory diseases. He was elected as a Fellow of the International Academy of Food Science and Technology (IAFoST), a Fellow of the Division of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (AGFD) of the American Chemical Society (ACS), a Fellow of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. This is the eighth straight year he has been recognized as a Highly Cited Researcher in the field of agricultural sciences.
- Yiqi Luo, a professor in SIPS, studies predictive understanding of ecosystem ecology and biogeochemistry under the global environmental change via data-model integration. Among his many honors, he is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, the Ecological Society of America and AAAS. He was recognized in the environment and ecology category. This is the fifth straight year he has been recognized as a highly cited researcher.
- Susan McCouch, professor of plant breeding and genetics in SIPS, is a renowned plant geneticist and breeder who pioneered the development of genomic tools, databases, and breeding strategies for rice. She published the first molecular map of the rice genome in 1988 and played a sustained role in turning rice into a model for genetics and breeding research. Her team is known for creating global germplasm diversity panels, publicly available genotyping/sequencing datasets, and a suite of analytical resources to facilitate GWAS, gene discovery and downstream applications in breeding. She works closely with gene banks to develop resources that facilitate the use of wild species in plant improvement and recently released the first red-pericarp rice variety in the US. She is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. This year she was recognized in the cross-field category.
- Lukas Mueller, recognized in the cross-field category, is an adjunct professor of plant breeding in SIPS and professor at the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI). Mueller’s research team designs and implements databases that assist scientists and plant breeders in crop improvement. He developed the Breedbase software that streamlines plant breeding for a range of crops, including cassava, yam, sweet potato, cooking banana, wheat, rice, maize, sorghum and chickpea. For the past 10 years he has been a member of the NextGen Cassava team working to empower smallholder farmers through sustainable cassava breeding.
- Joe Regenstein, recognized for agricultural sciences, is a professor emeritus in the Department of Food Science. His research focused on innovative use of by-products to help animal agriculture, with an emphasis on fish (e.g., skins and scales), especially the production of fish gelatin. Regenstein also heads the Cornell Kosher and Halal Food Initiative, an extension, teaching and research effort. In recent years, this work has led to work on the humane slaughter of animals and on animal health. He also has appointments in Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, and in the Jewish Studies Program. Many of his publications are the results of collaborative work with scientists internationally. Regenstein is the Editor Emeritus of Food Bioscience, where he help start the first English language peer-reviewed journal in English sponsored by a Chinese university (Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu, China).
- Mark Sorrells, recognized in the cross-field category, is professor of plant breeding and genetics at SIPS. He leads the Small Grains Project which uses molecular genetics, physiology, pathology, and breeding to create research strategies that contribute to the development of superior crop varieties for both conventional and organic cropping systems.
- Zhangjun Fei, recognized in the plant and animal science field, is adjunct professor in SIPS and professor at BTI. He and his team develop bioinformatics tools and resources to analyze and integrate large scale datasets in areas of genomics, epigenomics and functional genomics. His findings help researchers to understand crop evolution and domestication, and genetic basis of important agronomic traits.
