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Science-based innovation for a changing world

Plants, their ecosystems, the soils in which they grow, and their associated microbes are foundational to our health and the health of our planet. In the face of a changing climate and growing pressure on natural and agricultural ecosystems, our research, teaching and outreach address these critical grand challenges.

Learn more about our four grand challenges:

solar panel corn field farm tour

Sustainable crop production and food security

Safeguarding future food security for all with sustainably managed nutritious crops in diverse production systems, under a changing climate, with minimal loss to weeds and pathogens.

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Plants and ecosystem health

Integrating climate change mitigation and adaptation to secure ecosystem and human health and foster climate justice in diverse environments.

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Biodiversity, evolution, and molecular mechanisms

Understanding plant processes from cells to ecosystems and harnessing fundamental knowledge of plants, their associated microbes, and their relationships with the environment.

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Urban plants and ecosystem services

Enhancing food access and ecosystem services for equitable human and ecosystem health in high population areas.

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Make a difference! Study plant and agricultural sciences at Cornell.

Learn more about undergraduate majors in the School of Integrative Plant Science:

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tissue culture plants
Research areas in SIPS
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Graduate studies in SIPS
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SIPS extension & outreach

School of Integrative Plant Science sections

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Cultivating an inclusive community

School of Integrative Plant Science News

Learn how our research in plant and soil sciences is advancing our knowledge and securing food security and environmental sustainability. Stories from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences newsroom.

Yellow rust on wheat

News

Wheat’s defenses breached
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Plant Biology Section
  • Plant Breeding and Genetics Section
people in blueberry planting with apple trees and campus in background

News

Fruit, Soil Health Teams tour orchards, campus
Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Fruit and Soil Health Program Work Teams held a joint meeting July 11 to tour research orchards and facilities for updates on the latest science from Ithaca-based faculty and staff. The day started with a morning...
  • Cornell Integrated Pest Management
  • Cornell Orchards
  • Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station
Lena Wilson, a Ph.D. student, examines berries in a research tunnel.

Field Note

Lena Wilson: Using sweet science to improve berries
Lena Wilson is a Ph.D. student in professor Courtney Weber’s lab at Cornell AgriTech, where she focuses on raspberry breeding and genetics. Originally from San Francisco, her path to agricultural science began with a college job at a plant...
  • Cornell AgriTech
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Horticulture

Land Acknowledgment

Cornell University is located on the traditional homelands of the Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ (the Cayuga Nation). The Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ 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:nǫɁ dispossession, and honor the ongoing connection of Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ people, past and present, to these lands and waters.

This land acknowledgment has been reviewed and approved by the traditional Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ leadership. Learn more from the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program website.