Jane Mt. Pleasant

Associate Professor Emeritus, School of Integrative Plant Science, Horticulture Section, American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program

Portrait photo of woman wearing glasses with blonde hair.

Jane Mt. Pleasant (Tuscarora descendant)

In addition to having served as an associate professor in the Horticulture Section, Mt. Pleasant was also affiliated with the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program at Cornell University, with research and teaching responsibilities in both units. Her research focuses on indigenous cropping systems and their productivity. She lectured frequently on indigenous agriculture and its links to contemporary agricultural sustainability, and is considered a national expert in Iroquois agriculture.

Mt. Pleasant (who is of Tuscarora ancestry) first came to Cornell as an undergraduate transfer student in 1977. She was hired as a faculty member after completing her Ph.D. at North Carolina State University to teach in the then Department of Horticulture. In 2005 Mt. Pleasant was chosen by the Smithsonian Institution as one of "35 People Who Made a Difference in the World" for her work as an agricultural scientist. Professor Mt. Pleasant led Cornell's American Indian Program through a reorganization that resulted in the hiring of five jointly-appointed faculty members, which greatly solidified the academic side of the program. In June 2008, she completed two consecutive terms as AIP’s Director. She retired in 2018.

Education

PhD. Soil Science, North Carolina State University 1987
M.S. , Cornell University 1982
B.S. , Cornell University 1980

Interests

Indigenous agriculture

Plants and well-being

Recent Research

Publications

Scott TW, Mt. Pleasant J, Burt RF, Otis DJ. Contributions of ground cover, dry matter, and nitrogen from intercrops and cover crops in a corn polyculture system 1. Agronomy Journal 1987 Sep;79(5):792-8.
Pleasant JM, Burt RF. Estimating productivity of traditional Iroquoian cropping systems from field experiments and historical literature. Journal of Ethnobiology. 2010 Mar;30(1):52-79.
Mt. Pleasant J. Food yields and nutrient analyses of the Three Sisters: A Haudenosaunee cropping system. Ethnobiology Letters. 2016 Jan 1;7(1):87-98.
Mt. Pleasant J, McCollum RE, Coble HD. Weed population dynamics and weed control in the Peruvian Amazon. Agronomy Journal. 1990 Jan;82(1):102-12.
Mt. Pleasant JA. A new paradigm for Pre-Columbian agriculture in North America. Early American Studies. 2015 Apr 1:374-412.

Her most cited publications in other agricultural topics are:

Pleasant JM, Schlather KJ. Incidence of weed seed in cow (Bos sp.) manure and its importance as a weed source for cropland. Weed technology. 1994 Jun;8(2):304-10. Cited 120 times, according to Google Scholar.
Ford GT, Pleasant JM. Competitive abilities of six corn (Zea mays L.) hybrids with four weed control practices. Weed Technology. 1994 Mar;8(1):124-8. Cited 98 times, according to Google Scholar
Pleasant JM, Burt RF, Frisch JC. Integrating mechanical and chemical weed management in corn (Zea mays). Weed Technology. 1994 Jun;8(2):217-23.Cited 55 times, according to Google Scholar.

Awards & Honors

2005 - 35 Who Made a Difference - Smithsonian
1998 - Ely S. Parker Award - American Indian Science and Engineering Society

Contact Information

jm21 [at] cornell.edu

Jane in the news

historical images of Cornell campus overlaid with a map

News

October 12, 2020

Faculty research university’s ties to Indigenous dispossession

Through the “ Cornell University and Indigenous Dispossession Project,” the faculty committee formed by the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program (AIISP) in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) is investigating Cornell’s...

American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program
Agriculture
Development