Back

Discover CALS

See how our current work and research is bringing new thinking and new solutions to some of today's biggest challenges.

Purpose-driven science? We literally wrote the book on it.

The first undergraduate textbooks in  and ? Check. The first successful integration of botany and zoology in 1967’s ? Check. A 1925 handbook of  that is still a primary resource on the subject? Check.

The research of Cornell CALS scientists, students and staff hasn’t just informed discovery and innovation, but it is also the foundation upon which fields of study have been built.

We accelerate purpose-driven science by supporting inquiry that crosses disciplinary boundaries and stretches from discovery to invention.

three overlapping red circles highlighting CALS research areas

The world is complex and intertwined, and bringing global challenges into focus takes more than one lens.

That’s why we focus on three overlapping spheres of inquiry. 

We work relentlessly to understand the systems that drive the human and natural worlds. We do this to promote the well-being of communities and to ensure access to sustainable food, energy and environmental resources.

Because no single discipline is able to address the complex problems facing our communities, CALS researchers collaborate across disciplines.

By working in and across multiple scientific areas, CALS is able to address the challenges and opportunities of the greatest relevance, here in New York, across the nation and around the world.

Plant Science researchers working in a lab.

Opportunities include Andrew W. Mellon Student Research Grants, Arthur Boller Research Fund, Kieckhefer Adirondack Fellowships and Grant Proposal Application Instructions

Biology Scholars Program

Supporting undergraduate diversity in biological sciences

Office of Research Development

Assisting faculty at all levels in creating research

students in group
researchers in lab

Did you know?

Explore some of the discoveries that have changed lives and industries.

Disease-resistant papaya

In the 1990s, he developed the first-ever transgenic, disease-resistant papaya that effectively saved Hawaii’s $11 million papaya industry.

Five-kingdom scheme

He proposed the five-kingdom scheme of classification for organisms in 1969, adding three kingdoms – Monera (bacteria), Protista and fungi – to the previous two – animals and plants.

Nine plant patents

She holds nine U.S. plant patents: four sweet cherries, one tart cherry and four apple varieties, including SnapDragon™ and RubyFrost.™

First molecular maps

He developed the first molecular maps of both rice and tomatoes.

Red wine benefits

He was first to discover that resveratrol in red wine is beneficial for human heart health.

World’s first “gene gun”

They developed the world’s first “gene gun,” a prototype of which is found in the National Museum of American History.

Latest news, discoveries and breakthroughs

Explore the work we’re doing today and discover how it’s reshaping tomorrow.

Thomas Urban, research scientist in the College of Arts and Sciences, uses ground-penetrating radar to search for communal graves at Pilgrim Hot Springs in Alaska, in collaboration with employees of the National Park Service and Kawerak, Inc.

News

Radar, AI identify Alaska Native Spanish flu victims burial site

A Cornell research scientist used ground-penetrating radar and AI modeling to locate the communal graves of approximately 93 victims of the Spanish influenza at Pilgrim Hot Springs in Alaska.

  • American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program
A school of fish underwater

News

Fish can adjust their sensitivity to the actions of others – such as fleeing due to a false alarm – in order to reduce the risk of responding to misinformation, according to a new study.

  • Computational Biology
  • Behavior
  • Biology
The new white wine grape, Aravelle.

News

Introducing Aravelle – a new white wine grape that was 42 years in the making.

  • Cornell AgriTech
  • Cornell Cooperative Extension
  • School of Integrative Plant Science