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 hands holding some soil

News

Cornell-inspired NY soil law buoys climate-change resilience
New York growers will get a sustainable boost this planting season from the new Soil Health and Climate Resiliency Act – backed up by Cornell research – and signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul.
  • Cornell Atkinson
  • Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
A student working in the lab holding a petri dish

Spotlight

CALS enhances strategies to recruit, retain diverse faculty, students
CALS highlights some of the strategies the college and its community members are adopting to improve diversity in faculty, staff and student recruitment and retention.
  • Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
  • Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
  • Microbiology
William Rutter in a greenhouse

News

Genomic selection eased for more plant, animal breeders
A Cornell program, Breeding Insight, is adding seven new plant and animal species to its arsenal of supported specialty crops and animals for 2022.
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Plant Breeding and Genetics Section
  • Animals
A headshot of Thomas Wyatt Turner, Ph.D. 1921

News

Fellowship honors Cornell’s first Black doctorate, Ph.D. 1921
Thomas Wyatt Turner, Ph.D. 1921, was the first Black person at Cornell to earn a doctorate and the first Black person in the nation to earn a doctorate in botany. He was also a pioneer in the civil rights movement.
  • Global Development Section
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Agriculture

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.