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.

Melanie Lyons, M.Eng ’22, biomedical engineer at Llume; Roy Cohen, co-founder of TETmedical; and Ricardo Garcia de Alba, CEO of Meiogenix, show the certificates and mugs they received at the April 15 incubator graduation ceremony at Weill Hall.

News

Cornell incubators propel startups toward real-world impact

Cornell’s incubator Class of 2025, composed of startups Llume, Meiogenix and TETmedical, is advancing innovations in human performance monitoring, non-GMO plant breeding and neurological critical care.

  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Plant Biology Section
  • Agriculture
Vesna Bacheva, a postdoctoral associate in CROPPS, tests part of a prototype system designed to detect a stress response in a gene-encoded reporter plant.

News

Century-old mystery of plant communication solved

Researchers at the Center for Research on Programmable Plant Systems have taken a major step toward advancing two-way communication with plants.

  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Plant Biology Section
  • Communication
Dominique Holtappels headshot

Spotlight

Meet our faculty: Dominique Holtappels
Academic focus: Ecology and evolution of plant pathogens in controlled environment agriculture (CEA) Research summary: I study how biotic drivers such as the plant virome are shaping the ecology and evolution of plant pathogens. My lab aims to...
  • Cornell AgriTech
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section
Headshot of Hannah Marx

Spotlight

Meet our faculty: Hannah Marx
Academic focus: Alpine botany, biodiversity, museum science Research summary: My research aims to understand the ecological and evolutionary processes that generate and maintain biodiversity across space and time in alpine “sky islands” on...
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Plant Biology Section
  • Plants

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.