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.

Two women sitting down and speaking to one another

Spotlight

Martha Furie '74 & Chenab Khakh '20 talk biology, CALS and women in STEM
Research at Cornell MARTHA: When I was here for undergrad, we science majors were busy! Can you believe that I had a three-hour chemistry lab at 8 a.m. on Saturdays? My career trajectory was shaped by my work in Dr. Adrian Srb’s lab, studying...
  • Microbiology
  • Molecular Biology and Genetics
  • Plant Biology Section
A loaf of bread sits cut on a wooden board

News

Researchers to explore perennial grains with $1.77M grant
One of our researchers is helping organic farmers in upstate New York start growing perennial grain crops, which can be planted once and will yield grain for multiple years — supporting commercial products such as breads, cereals, beer and whiskey.
  • Soil and Crop Sciences Section
  • Food Science
  • Food
Kathryn J. Boor

Spotlight

A decade of impact: Kathryn J. Boor, the Ronald P. Lynch Dean
As a teenager, she honed her leadership skills as an active member of 4-H, part of Cornell Cooperative Extension. She first visited Cornell as a New York State 4-H Congress delegate, and her lifelong dedication to the College of Agriculture and...
  • CALS Global Fellows Program
  • Cornell AgriTech
  • Cornell Institute for Digital Agriculture
A man and a woman stand in the sunlight holding a flower between the two of them

News

Wallflowers could lead to new cancer, heart drugs
For decades, researchers have tried to understand how plants biosynthesize cardenolides, knowledge that could help them discover and develop safer versions of the drugs. Unfortunately, the cardenolides’ best-known plant sources – foxglove and...
  • Boyce Thompson Institute
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Plant Biology 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.