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.

A smiling woman holds an apple next to more apples piled on a table

News

Apple breeder and geneticist Susan Brown awarded for distinguished contributions in horticulture
In New York, apples are big business: the state’s 600 commercial growers produce an average of 30 million bushels annually, making it the second-largest apple producer in the U.S. But growing apples isn’t easy, and much has changed since Cornell...
  • Cornell AgriTech
  • Horticulture Section
  • Plants
Two potted plants sit side-by-side, the left plant has withered leaves

News

Worm pheromones protect major crops, BTI scientists find
As described in research published in May in the Journal of Phytopathology, these compounds helped protect major crops from various pathogens, and have the potential to save billions of dollars and increase global agricultural sustainability...
  • Boyce Thompson Institute
  • Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section
  • Plants
A man and a woman stand in a field of wheat, examining the growing plants

Spotlight

Wheat expert calls for global unity to avert future hunger crises
A global alliance of countries and research institutions, including Cornell, committed to sharing plant genetic material, has secured food access for billions of people, but a patchwork of legal restrictions threatens humanity’s ability to feed...
  • International Programs
  • Plant Breeding and Genetics Section
  • Global Development
In a press room, a man in a suit signs a bill while others stand behind him watching and clapping

News

Howarth advised on methane portions of NY's new climate law
“It’s the most progressive legislation designed to avert climate change that any state has put out there,” said Howarth, the David R. Atkinson Professor of Ecology and Environmental Biology. The New York State Senate and the Assembly passed the...
  • Horticulture Section
  • Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
  • Energy

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.