Program overview

The Agronomy concentration within the Integrative Plant Science MPS focuses on soil and nutrient management, crop physiology and ecology, cropping systems, and pest management with an emphasis on solving practical problems. 

Agronomy is the interdisciplinary science and applied practice of sustainable field crop production, including organic farming.  By nature, agronomy recognizes that productivity, farm profitability, and the essential ecosystem services derived from agriculture require the integrated management of soils, crops, and other part of the farm enterprise – often including animals. 

Good agronomy necessitates systems thinking that combines foundational biophysical concepts with economics, risk management, and the challenges of scaling novel production technologies. With rapid advances in digital agriculture open new pathways for precision management coupled with the growing urgency of maintaining crop productivity while protecting natural resources, the demand for highly skilled agronomists has never been higher.

MPS Degree Requirements

The CALS MPS degree is a one-year, course-based program where students study the intricacies and in-depth questions of their field of study. Instead of a thesis or research project, MPS students complete a capstone project during their final semester. To understand this difference in greater detail, please visit our FAQ page. Students earning the MPS in Integrative Plant Science complete 30 credits of graduate level courses (5000+), with at least 20 of these credits earned through the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, and at least 18 of these credits taken for letter grade. (Note that physical education courses and language courses do not count towards degree.)

The Integrative Plant Science Master of Professional Studies program is a STEM-designated degree with coursework requirements that differ slightly from other MPS programs at Cornell. 

Specific course requirements of the Integrative Plant Science MPS Degree are as follows:

  • Core Courses (13 credits minimum):
    • Professional Development (5 – 9 credits)
    • Quantitative Literacy (2 – 6 credits)
    • Capstone Project (2 – 6 credits)
  • Concentration Courses (12 credits minimum):
    • Courses specific to your concentration
  • Elective Courses (5 credits minimum)
    • Graduate level course you choose in consultation with your advisor.

Note: 2.5 GPA required for graduation.

Here are some of the courses you can take to fulfill the field core requirements. Courses are not necessarily offered every semester or every year. Refer to the Courses of Study website for details.

Professional Development: 5-9 credits

  • PLSCI 5050 Cultivating Community through Self-discovery and Skill Development (2 credits)
  • PADM 5431 Fundraising, Grantmaking, and Lobbying (1.5 credits)
  • NCC 5540 Managing and Leading Organizations (3 credits)
  • NBA 5690 Management Consulting Essentials (1.5 credits)
  • NBA 5670 Management Writing (1.5 credits) 
  • NBA 5640 The Business of Entrepreneurship (3 credits) 
  • NBA 5380 The Business Idea Factory (1.5 credits)
  • NBA 5150 Leadership Theory & Practice (3 credits)
  • NBA 5070 Entrepreneurship for Scientists and Engineers (3 credits) 
  • ILRHR 6640 HR Research for Executive Decision-Making (3 credits) 
  • HADM 6130 Entrepreneurial Management (3 credits) 
  • GDEV 6820 Community Organizing and Development (3 credits) 
  • COMM 5660 Science Communication Workshop (1 credits) 
  • ALS 5211 Career Readiness: Engaged Learning for CALS Professional Master’s Students (1 credit)
  • AEM 6145 Business and Management Fundamentals for STEM Graduate Students (1.5 credits) 
  • AEM 5700 MPS Management Communication (1.5 credits)
  • AEM 5110 Design and Innovation (3 credits) 

Quantitative Literacy: 2-6 credits

  • STSCI 5200 Biological Stats 1 (4 credits) 
  • STSCI 5150 Introductory Statistics for Biology (4 credits) 
  • STSCI 5120 Intro to R Programming (2 credits)
  • SOC 6310 Qualitative Research Methods for Studying Science, Technology, and Medicine (3 credits)
  • SOC 6010 Statistics for Sociological Research (4 credits)
  • PUBPOL 6040 Qualitative, Survey, and Mixed Method Approaches to Policy Research (3 credits)
  • ILRST 6100 Statistical Methods I (4 credits)
  • GOVT 6019 Introduction to Probability and Applied Statistics (4 credits)
  • GDEV 6190 Quantitative Research Methods (4 credits)
  • DEA 6560 Research Methods in Social Sciences (4 credits)
  • CRP 6201 Research Design and Qualitative Methods (3 credits) 
  • COMM 6820 Quantitative Research Methods (3 credits) 
  • CEE 5980 Decision Framing and Analytics (3 credits) 
  • BTRY 6010 Statistical Methods I (4 credits) 
  • BTRY 5090 Theory of Statistics (4 credits) 
  • BTRY 5010 Biological Statistics I (4 credits)
  • AEM 5605 Predictive Analytics for Business Strategy (2 credits) 
  • AEM 5510 Environmental Economics (3 credits) 
  • AEM 5225 Systems and Analytics in Accounting (3 credits) 

Capstone Project Courses: 2-6 credits

  • ALS 5900 Master of Professional Studies Project Development (1-5 credits)
  • ALS 5910 Master of Professional Studies Project Completion (1 credit)

12 credit minimum of Primary and Secondary Concentration Courses with at least 5 credits from Primary. Refer to the Courses of Study website for details.

Primary Courses: 5 credit minimum 

  • PLSCI 6017 Cropping Systems Ecology (1 credits)
  • PLSCI 5440/ENTOM 5440 Integrated Pest Management (4 credits)
  • PLSCI 5210 Soil and Crop Management for Sustainability (3 credits)
  • PLSCI 5150 Weed Biology and Management (4 credits)
  • PLSCI 5110 Field Crop Systems (4 credits)

Secondary Courses:

  • PLSCI 6720 Nutrient and Carbon Cycling and Management in Ecosystems (3 credits)
  • PLSCI 6630 Pedology (3 credits)
  • PLSCI 6420 Mineral Nutrition: From Plants to Humans (3 credits)
  • PLSCI 5660 Soil Ecology (4 credits)
  • PLSCI 5600 Soil Science (4 credits)
  • PLSCI 5290 Remote Sensing and Modeling for Ecosystems (3 credits)
  • PLSCI 5200 Geographic Information Systems (3 credits)
  • PLSCI 5140 Global Cropping Systems and Sustainable Development (3 credits)
  • PLSCI 5010 Biology and Management of Plant Diseases (4 credits)

Next steps

Deadline to apply: January 15*

*For regular Fall Semester start. Late applications may be accepted under exceptional circumstances.  Contact Tara Reed for more information: tln2 [at] cornell.edu (tln2[at]cornell[dot]edu).

two women and man looking at young corn in the field

Meet some of our Agronomy faculty

Faculty spotlight

Toni DiTommaso

Toni is the chair of the Soil and Crop Sciences Section and studies the basic biological/ecological principles governing agricultural and environmental weed population dynamics. He investigates the development and implementation of safe, effective, sustainable and economically viable weed management strategies, and coaches Cornell's student weed science team.

toni ditomasso
Jerome Cherney
Jerome Cherney

E.V. Baker Professor of Agriculture

School of Integrative Plant Science

Soil and Crop Sciences Section

Jerome Cherney
Profitable management of forage crops
Environmental sustainability
Grass bioenergy
Toni Ditommaso headshot
Antonio (Toni) DiTommaso

Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Soil and Crop Sciences Section

Associate Director

Cornell AES

Antonio (Toni) DiTommaso
Weed ecology and biological weed management
Invasive plant species
Climate change impacts on weed performance and distributions
Peter Hobbs
Peter Hobbs

Adjunct Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Soil and Crop Sciences Section

Peter Hobbs
International agriculture
Tropical cropping systems
Agroforestry
vipan kumar headshot
Vipan Kumar

Associate Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Soil and Crop Sciences Section

Vipan Kumar
Integrated weed management, including weed biology and ecology, crop-weed competition and cover crops
Herbicide-resistant weeds and herbicide-based weed control
Artificial intelligence and precision weed control
louis longchamps
Louis Longchamps

Assistant Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Soil and Crop Sciences Section

Louis Longchamps
  • ll928 [at] cornell.edu
Farm data management
Farmer-centric on-farm experimentation
Precision agriculture
Andy McDonald
Andrew McDonald

Associate Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Soil and Crop Sciences Section

Associate Professor

Department of Global Development

Andrew McDonald
  • ajm9 [at] cornell.edu
Cropping systems ecology
Climate change adaptation and mitigation
Agricultural sustainability, food security, water resources, international agriculture, policy, and applied social sciences
man in apple orchard
Gregory Peck

Associate Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Horticulture Section

Gregory Peck
Tree fruit and hard cider
Organic agriculture and soil health
Climate change
Headshot of Jeff Perry
Jeffrey Perry

Senior Lecturer

Department of Global Development

Jeffrey Perry
Extension Education
Teaching Methods
Youth Leadership Development
Marvin Pritts
Marvin Pritts

Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies, Plant Sciences Major

School of Integrative Plant Science

Horticulture Section

Professor

Department of Global Development

Marvin Pritts
Berry crops
Season extension
Sustainable production practices
Steve Reiners
Steve Reiners

Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Horticulture Section

Cornell AgriTech

Steve Reiners
Processing vegetables (peas, beans, sweet corn)
Vegetable production systems
Organic gardening
man in field
Matt Ryan

Associate Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Soil and Crop Sciences Section

Matt Ryan
Sustainable cropping systems and agroecology
Cover crops and ecological weed management
Organic production
Peter Woodbury
Peter Woodbury

Senior Research Associate

School of Integrative Plant Science

Soil and Crop Sciences Section

Peter Woodbury
Agricultural and forest ecosystems
Greenhouse gas emissions
Geospatial modeling, land use and environmental quality

Questions about Integrative Plant Science MPS? Contact us:

Bill Miller
Director of Graduate Studies
Graduate Field of Integrative Plant Science (IPS)
Phone: (607) 255-1799
Email: wbm8 [at] cornell.edu (wbm8[at]cornell[dot]edu)

Tara Reed
Program Coordinator
Graduate Field of Integrative Plant Science (IPS)
Phone: (607) 255-2131
Email: sips-mps [at] cornell.edu (sips-mps[at]cornell[dot]edu)

Marvin Pritts
Student Experience Coordinator
Graduate Field of Integrative Plant Science (IPS)
Phone: (607) 255-1778
Email: mpp3 [at] cornell.edu (mpp3[at]cornell[dot]edu)