Graduate Field Faculty: Plant Biology

Graduate Fields are composed of faculty members with research interests related to the field of study. Most members of a given Graduate Field are faculty in the corresponding SIPS Section, but some have appointments within other SIPS Sections, other departments at Cornell, or are affiliated with USDA or the Boyce Thompson Institute.

Daniel Anstett

Assistant Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Biology Section

Daniel Anstett

dna38 [at] cornell.edu

Landscape genomics

Rapid evolution to climate change

Herbivory and plant defenses

Stephane Bentolila

Associate Research Professor

Molecular Biology and Genetics

Stephane Bentolila

sb46 [at] cornell.edu

Organelle genetics

RNA editing

Cytoplasmic male sterility

Adam Bogdanove

Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section

Adam Bogdanove

(607) 255-7831
ajb7 [at] cornell.edu

Bacterial blight and bacterial leaf streak of rice

Transcription activator-like (TAL) effector proteins

Genome editing and custom gene regulation

Clare Casteel

Associate Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section

Clare Casteel

clc269 [at] cornell.edu

Plant-virus-vector and plant-insect interactions

Molecular & chemical ecology and soil microbiomes

Healthy agroecosystems, climate resilience and organic farming

William Crepet

Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Biology Section

William Crepet

(607) 255-4075
wlc1 [at] cornell.edu

Plant systematics and phylogeny

Flowering plants

Paleobotany

Jeffrey Doyle

Professor Emeritus

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Biology Section

Plant Breeding and Genetics Section

Jeffrey Doyle

(607) 255-7972
jjd5 [at] cornell.edu

Genome duplication

Comparative genomics

Legume systematics and origin of nodulation

Zhangjun Fei

Adjunct Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section

Zhangjun Fei

zf25 [at] cornell.edu

Computational analysis of large datasets

Modeling regulatory networks

Margaret Frank

Associate Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Biology Section

Margaret Frank

mhf47 [at] cornell.edu

Grafting

Genomics and phenomics tools for trait analysis

Susheng Gan

Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Biology Section

Susheng Gan

(607) 255-6381
sg288 [at] cornell.edu

Plant senescence

Dimensional control of gene expression

James Giovannoni

Adjunct Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Biology Section

James Giovannoni

jjg33 [at] cornell.edu

Genetic regulation of fruit ripening

Fruit quality and nutritional composition.

Tomatoes

Laura Gunn

Assistant Professor

Plant Biology Section

School of Integrative Plant Science

Laura Gunn

lhg42 [at] cornell.edu

Carbon fixation Synthetic biology

Structural biology

Synthetic biology

Maureen Hanson

Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Biology Section

Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor

Molecular Biology and Genetics

Maureen Hanson

(607) 254-4833
mrh5 [at] cornell.edu

Gene expression in plant organelles

Photosynthetic enhancement

Molecular basis of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome

Maria Harrison

Adjunct Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section

Maria Harrison

(607) 254-6472
mjh78 [at] cornell.edu

Arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis

Phosphate acquisition

Jian Hua

Plant Biology Section Head and Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Biology Section

Jian Hua

(607) 255-5554
jh299 [at] cornell.edu

Calcium signaling in environmental responses

Temperature stress tolerance

Regulation of plant immunity

Georg Jander

Adjunct Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Biology Section

Georg Jander

(607) 254-1365
gj32 [at] cornell.edu

Plant-insect interactions

Plant amino acid metabolism

Arabidopsis

Magdalena Julkowska

Adjunct Assistant Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Biology Section

Magdalena Julkowska

(607) 279-6002
mmj55 [at] cornell.edu

Andre Kessler

Associate Professor

Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Andre Kessler

(607) 254-4219
AK357 [at] cornell.edu

Fay-Wei Li

Adjunct Associate Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Biology Section

Fay-Wei Li

(607) 254-1244
fl329 [at] cornell.edu

Li Li

Adjunct Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Breeding and Genetics Section

Li Li

(607) 255-5708
ll37 [at] cornell.edu

Crop nutritional quality improvement

Plant secondary metabolism

Plant metabolite signaling in plant growth and development

Sijin Li

Assistant Professor, Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Sijin Li

sijin.li [at] cornell.edu

Jiping Liu

Adjunct Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Breeding and Genetics Section

Jiping Liu

(607) 255-6296
jl233 [at] cornell.edu

Plant resistance to soil-based abiotic stresses, focusing on low-pH (acidic), aluminum, and heavy-metal stresses

Plant mineral nutrition with an emphasis on mineral transport and allocation

Root development under abiotic stresses

Hannah Marx

Assistant Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Biology Section

Hannah Marx

hem73 [at] cornell.edu

Biodiversity & Biogeography

Alpine flora

Herbarium and museum science

Gaurav Moghe

Associate Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Biology Section

Gaurav Moghe

(607) 255-5714
gdm67 [at] cornell.edu

Evolution of plant specialized metabolism

Use of AI in plant biochemistry and genomics in crop stress resilience

Synthetic biology for engineering novel metabolic pathways

Andrew Nelson

Adjunct Assistant Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Biology Section

Andrew Nelson

an425 [at] cornell.edu

Comparative and high-throughput bioinformatics approaches to plant transcriptome research.

Maria Alejandra Gandolfo Nixon

Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Biology Section

Maria Alejandra Gandolfo Nixon

(607) 255-3273
mag4 [at] cornell.edu

Paleobotany

Diversification and evolution of angiosperms

Plant anatomy

Kevin Nixon

Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Biology Section

Kevin Nixon

kcn2 [at] cornell.edu

Theory and methodology of phylogenetic analysis

Angiosperm phylogeny

Systematics and taxonomy of the oak family

Wojtek Pawlowski

Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Biology Section

Plant Breeding and Genetics Section

Wojtek Pawlowski

(607) 254-8745
wp45 [at] cornell.edu

Meiotic recombination

Advanced microscopy methods

Recombination and genome rearrangements in new polyploids

Miguel Pineros

Adjunct Associate Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Biology Section

Miguel Pineros

map25 [at] cornell.edu

Crop adaptation to soil abiotic stresses

Bioavailability of iron, zinc and phytochemicals

Robert Raguso

Professor

Neurobiology and Behavior

Robert Raguso

(607) 339-8003
rar229 [at] cornell.edu

Eric Richards

Adjunct Professor

Molecular Biology and Genetics

Eric Richards

ejr77 [at] cornell.edu

Epigenetics

Nuclear cell biology

Adrienne Roeder

Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Biology Section

Adrienne Roeder

(607) 255-4467
ahr75 [at] cornell.edu

Development and patterning of specialized cell types

Plant cell imaging

Jocelyn Rose

Director

School of Integrative Plant Science

Barbara McClintock Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Biology Section

Jocelyn Rose

(607) 255-4781
jr286 [at] cornell.edu

Plant structural polymers, cell wall structure and function

Cuticles and plant surfaces

Fruit biology

Mike Scanlon

Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Biology Section

Mike Scanlon

(607) 254-1156
mjs298 [at] cornell.edu

Mechanisms of meristem and leaf development

Evolution of plant morphology

Maize, Brachypodium, Arabidopsis, and Physcomitrium

Emily Sessa

Adjunct Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Biology Section

Emily Sessa

esessa [at] nybg.org

Ferns

Lycophytes

Systematics

Jed Sparks

Professor

Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Jed Sparks

(607) 254-4270
jps66 [at] cornell.edu

Chelsea Specht

Barbara McClintock Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Biology Section

Chelsea Specht

(607) 255-9293
cds266 [at] cornell.edu

Plant diversity

Comparative genomics

Evolutionary biology

David Stern

Adjunct Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Biology Section

David Stern

(607) 254-1300
ds28 [at] cornell.edu

Chloroplast biology

Bioenergy

Nuclear-cytoplasmic interactions

Robert Turgeon

Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Biology Section

Robert Turgeon

(607) 255-8395
ert2 [at] cornell.edu

Leaf development

Plasmodesmata structure and function

Phloem transport and virus movement

Klaas van Wijk

Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Biology Section

Klaas van Wijk

(607) 255-3664
kv35 [at] cornell.edu

Molecular genetics and protein biochemistry

Mass-spectrometry-driven proteomics and metabolomics

Chloroplast biogenesis and protein homeostasis in Arabidopsis and differentiation in maize

Olena Vatamaniuk

Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Biology Section

Olena Vatamaniuk

(607) 255-8049
okv2 [at] cornell.edu

Functional genomics of mineral nutrient homeostasis

Toxic metal detoxification and phytoremediation

Biofortification

Randy Wayne

Associate Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Biology Section

Randy Wayne

(607) 255-8904
row1 [at] cornell.edu

Biophysics of plant cell biology

Biological instruction