Plants in the greenhouse complex at Guterman Lab.

SIPS Degrees & Programs

Gain critical skills to advance your knowledge and address local and global challenges.

The School of Integrative Plant Science is the largest academic unit in Cornell's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. It is composed of five sections with interrelated activities in the plant sciences: Horticulture, Plant Biology, Plant Breeding and Genetics, Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology, and Soil and Crop Sciences.

Degree programs

students at dilmun hill student farm
Undergraduate

The Cornell CALS plant sciences major prepares students for careers or further study in fundamental biology, plant breeding, pest and disease management and production of plants for food, fiber and ornamental uses.

students looking at rice plants
Graduate - M.S./Ph.D.

Graduate study in SIPS is organized into five graduate fields. Collectively these fields provide unparalleled opportunities to connect disciplines, creatively solve problems and integrate complex systems. Includes graduate fields of Horticulture, Plant Biology, Plant Breeding, Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology, and Soil and Crop Sciences.

people driving a hemp harvester in the field
Graduate - Integrative Plant Science MPS

The Master of Professional Studies (MPS) degree in Integrative Plant Science is a one-year, course-based master's degree, ideal for individuals who are interested in in-depth study of the issues and advancements in plant and soil sciences.

Continuing education

Our school is committed to lifelong learning, offering a wide range of programming and skill building for children and adults alike. See featured education programs to take advantage of these opportunities, including online courses and seminar, garden tours and more.

News from the School of Integrative Plant Science

Learn about the many ways we are addressing some of the world's most urgent challenges.

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
Margery Daughtrey in lab with bouquet

Spotlight

Margery Daughtrey: Keeping plants healthy for nearly 50 years
Since 1978, Margery Daughtrey has been and ornamental crop disease management problem-solver, serving the greenhouse, nursery and floriculture industries from her base at the Long Island Horticultural Research and Extension Center. “Some of her...
  • Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section
Farmers attend demonstration of laser weeding machine.

News

Lasers match common herbicides at zapping East Coast weeds

The study found that the laser weeders worked as well as common herbicides in test plots of East Coast peas, beets and spinach.

  • Cornell AgriTech
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Plants
Hands wearing gloves picks up a pile of wood debris off the ground

News

To slow global warming, bury wood debris

Researchers project that burying the wood debris from managed forests could reduce global warming up to 0.76 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100.

  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Soil and Crop Sciences Section
  • Climate Change

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.