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.

Margaret Frank speaking at an event

News

Programmable plant systems team selected for global food initiative

The Center for Research on Programmable Plant Systems (CROPPS) has been selected to help shape a new international effort to reimagine the future of food systems through the CIFAR Arrell Future of Food Initiative.

  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Plant Biology Section
Forest with green trees

News

The nature cure: Encouraging well-being in the workplace

Cornell researchers have found that changes or improvements in workplace policy, culture and outdoor amenities could facilitate more time outdoors to aid well-being for staff.

  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Plants
monkeyflower poking out from rocks

News

Rapid evolution can ‘rescue’ species from climate change

In response to extreme drought, scarlet monkeyflower populations rapidly evolved and recovered, providing a window into climate change adaptation.

  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Plant Biology Section
  • Evolution
Jiameng Lai, Ph.D. ’25

News

Doctoral alumna wins Ph.D. Dissertation Award

Soil and crop sciences alumna Jiameng Lai, Ph.D. '25, was selected as a winner of the SUNY Chancellor Distinguished Ph.D. Dissertation Award.

  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Soil and Crop Sciences Section
A monarch butterfly on milkweed.

News

Seed research is key to pollinator habitat restoration 
Monarch butterflies and other pollinators are essential to ecosystems and agriculture, supporting the reproduction of flowering plants and the production of fruits and vegetables. But decades of habitat loss, pesticide use and the disappearance...
  • Cornell AgriTech
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Horticulture Section

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.