MPS careers and faculty interests
Use this page to zero in on which concentration will best meet your career goals, and which faculty advisor can help you make the most of your Cornell IPS-MPS experience.
For each concentration, we've listed some careers that that concentration can help prepare you for. Then we've listed faculty who are active in the focal area. Use that information to help you zero in on the faculty who you think would be most helpful to you as mentors.
Questions? Contact Tara Reed, Plant Science MPS Program Coordinator, (607) 255-2131 tln2 [at] cornell.edu (tln2[at]cornell[dot]edu).
Visit the Agronomy program page.
Agronomy careers:
- Cropping systems specialist
- Crop consultant
- Extension educator
- Agronomist
- Natural resources conservation specialist
- Farm manager
- Forage specialist
- Cover crop specialist
- International cropping specialist
- Research technician
- Farm business manager
- Agronomic sales and management
- Technical specialist with government and non-governmental organizations
Agronomy focus area faculty and their interests:
- Environmental sustainability
- Grass bioenergy
- Profitable management of forage crops
- Biological weed management
- Invasive species
- Weed ecology
- Agroforestry
- International agriculture
- Tropical cropping systems
- On-farm research
- Precision agriculture
- Site-specific weed management and variable rate nitrogen management
- Agricultural sustainability, food security, water resources and climate
- Cropping systems ecology
- International agriculture, policy, and applied social sciences
- Cover crops and ecological weed management
- Organic production
- Sustainable cropping systems and agroecology
- Drought and environmental stress physiology
- International agriculture
- Maize, wheat and cassava breeding and genomics
- Agricultural and forest ecosystems
- Geospatial modeling, land use and environmental quality
- Greenhouse gas emissions
Visit the Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) program page.
Potential Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) careers:
- CEA/greenhouse grower
- CEA/greenhouse research support specialist
- CEA/greenhouse pest management specialist
- CEA/greenhouse facilities manager
- CEA/greenhouse lighting systems specialist
- CEA/greenhouse operations manager
- CEA/greenhouse hemp grower
- CEA/greenhouse hydroponics specialist
Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) focus area faculty and their interests:
- Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA)
- Greenhouse horticulture
- Greenhouse lighting and systems engineering
- CEA/Greenhouse hemp production
- Flower bulbs and floriculture
- Greenhouse and nursery crops
- Physiology and post-harvest management
- CEA/Greenhouse hemp production
Visit the Climate Change and Agriculture program page.
Climate Change and Agriculture careers:
- Climate/environmental scientist
- Biofuels specialist
- Climate smart farming specialist
- Sustainability consultant
- Conservation scientist
Climate Change and Agriculture focus area faculty and their interests:
- Woody plant root biology and physiological ecology
- Water stress
- Root herbivory
- Quantitative genetics and genomics
- High-throughput phenotyping tools
- Nutritional genomics
- Soil biogeochemistry, fertility management, organic matter, and carbon and nutrient cycling from wastes
- Soil carbon sequestration and biochar systems
- Sustainable agriculture in the tropics
- On-farm research
- Precision agriculture
- Site-specific weed management and variable rate nitrogen management
- Agricultural sustainability, food security, water resources and climate
- Cropping systems ecology, International agriculture, policy, and applied social sciences
- Genetics of quantitative disease resistance in plants
- International agriculture and rural development
- Mycotoxin management
- Drought and environmental stress physiology,
- International agriculture
- Maize, wheat and cassava breeding and genomics
- Geographic information science and systems and natural resources management
- Integration of in social and cultural data in GIS and humanitarian mapping projects
- Geospatial literacy and spatial thinking, GIS in Higher Education
- Canopy- to global-scale modeling
- Geospatial analysis and big data synthesis
- Remote sensing
- International agriculture
- Soil biology quality assessment and remediation
- Soil ecology
- Agricultural and forest ecosystems
- Geospatial modeling, land use and environmental quality
- Greenhouse gas emissions
- Biochar, Soil carbon sequestration and climate-smart agriculture
- Sustainable landscape management, agroforestry reforestration and restoration of degraded land
Visit the Crop Science program page.
Crop Science careers:
- Crop advisor
- Crop consultant
- Extension educator
- Cropping systems specialist
- Crop production manager
- International cropping specialist
- Fertilizer, water & pest management specialists
- Field-trial, greenhouse, and laboratory technician and manager
- Educators and extension specialists.
- Farm business manager
- Horticulturist
Crop Science focus area faculty and their interests:
- Environmental sustainability
- Grass bioenergy
- Profitable management of forage crops
- Biological weed management
- Invasive species
- Weed ecology
- Agroforestry
- International agriculture
- Tropical cropping systems
- On-farm research
- Precision agriculture
- Site-specific weed management and variable rate nitrogen management
- Agricultural sustainability, food security, water resources and climate
- Cropping systems ecology
- International agriculture, policy, and applied social sciences
- Cover crops and ecological weed management
- Organic production
- Sustainable cropping systems and agroecology
- Drought and environmental stress physiology
- International agriculture
- Maize, wheat and cassava breeding and genomics
- Agricultural and forest ecosystems
- Geospatial modeling, land use and environmental quality
- Greenhouse gas emissions
Visit the Geospatial Applications program page.
Geospatial Careers:
- Geospatial analytics scientist
- Precision agriculture specialist
- Digital agriculture specialist
- Environmental management
- Land use management
- Wildlife conservation
- Regional planning
- Climate change monitoring and analysis
- Transportation planning and logistics
- Surveying and digital cartography
- Image processing and analysis
- Data applications specialist
Geospatial focus area faculty and their interests:
- Agricultural robotics and artificial Intelligence
- High throughput plant phenotyping
- Image processing
- Soil biogeochemistry, fertility management, organic matter, and carbon and nutrient cycling from wastes
- Soil carbon sequestration and biochar systems
- Sustainable agriculture in the tropics
- On-farm research
- Precision agriculture
- Site-specific weed management and variable rate nitrogen management
- Agricultural sustainability, food security, water resources and climate
- Cropping systems ecology
- International agriculture, policy, and applied social sciences
- Geostatistics
- Soil Survey
- Spatial modeling of the environment
- Geographic information science and systems and natural resources management
- Geospatial literacy and spatial thinking, GIS in Higher Education
- Integration of in social and cultural data in GIS and humanitarian mapping projects
- Canopy- to global-scale modeling
- Geospatial analysis and big data synthesis
- Remote sensing
- Digital agriculture
- Precision nitrogen management (Adapt-N)
- Soil health
- Computational tools for vineyard management
- Ecophysiological factors and their impact on fruit and wine composition
- Sustainable viticulture production
- Agricultural and forest ecosystems
- Geospatial modeling, land use and environmental quality
- Greenhouse gas emissions
- Biochar
- Soil carbon sequestration and climate-smart agriculture
- Sustainable landscape management, agroforestry reforestration and restoration of degraded land
Visit the Hemp Science program page.
Hemp Science Careers:
- Hemp production manager
- Hemp breeder
- Hemp production consultant
- Commercial hemp grower
- Hemp quality control specialist
- Hemp product developer
- Hemp research support specialist
- Hemp pest management specialist
- CEA/greenhouse hemp grower
Hemp Science focus area faculty and their interests:
- Diversity, equity and inclusion in the plant sciences
- Plant genetics
- Science communication and digital technologies
- Agroecology
- Industrial hemp production and processing
- Plant-insect interactions
- Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA)
- Greenhouse horticulture
- Greenhouse lighting and systems engineering
- CEA/Greenhouse hemp production
- Flower bulbs and floriculture
- Greenhouse and nursery crops
- Physiology and post-harvest management
- CEA/Greenhouse hemp production
- Biology and management of vegetable diseases
- Host-pathogen interactions
- Physiology and post-harvest management
- Breeding and genomics
- Industrial hemp
- Willow bioenergy crops
Visit the Plant Biotechnology program page.
Potential Plant Biotechnology careers:
- Bioinformatics scientist
- Biotechnology technician
- Plant tissue culture specialist
- Plant propagator
- Plant breeder
- Seed company
- Plant scientist
- Greenhouse engineer
- Field Engineer
- Laboratory Technician
- Genomics technician
- Plant tissue culture technician
- Biotechnology technician
- Plant microbiologist
- Plant physiologist
- Environmental monitor
- Cell therapist
- Molecular plant biologist
- Quality assurance specialist
- Intellectual property patent specialist
- Bioinformatics analyst
- Biochemist
- Microbiologist
- Plant cell therapist
- Process engineer (for research company)
- Pilot plant engineer
- Process scientist
- Technical consultant
- Entrepreneur manager
- Technology Officer (Chief Tech. Officer)
- Seed regulatory specialist
- Computational biologist
- Extension agent
- Bioprocess scientist
- Computational biologist at a plant genomics, plant breeding or any other company
- Biochemist or mass spectrometrist in a pharmaceutical company
- Protein structural engineer at a synthetic biology company
Plant Biotechnology focus area faculty and their interests:
- Ornamental plant breeding
- Cell and tissue culture
- Greenhouse floriculture
- Dimensional control of gene expression
- Plant senescence
- Environmental responses; Adaptation; temperature; immunity; plants
- Evolution of plant specialized metabolism, plant natural variation; genomics, metabolomics
Visit the Plant Breeding program page.
Plant Breeding careers:
- Variety trials manager
- Plant breeding research associate
- Germplasm collection manager
- Bioinformatics associate
- Breeding software developer
- Plant genetics technician
- Biotechnology specialist
- Plant improvement specialist
- Phenomics breeding associate
Plant Breeding focus area faculty and their interests:
- Cell and tissue culture
- Greenhouse floriculture
- Ornamental plant breeding
- Dimensional control of gene expression
- Plant senescence
- Quantitative genetics and genomics
- High-throughput phenotyping tools
- Nutritional genomics
- Molecular interactions among plant pathogens, insect vectors, and plant hosts
- Grape stress physiology genetics and genomics
- Genetics of quantitative disease resistance in plants
- International agriculture and rural development
- Mycotoxin management
- Breeding and genomics
- Industrial hemp
- Willow bioenergy crops
- Computational tools for vineyard management
- Ecophysiological factors and their impact on fruit and wine composition
- Sustainable viticulture production
Visit the Plant Protection program page.
Plant Protection Careers:
- Pest control advisor
- Weed scientist
- Crop advisor
- Crop consultant
- Extension educator
- Crop scout
- Field scout
- Custom applicator
- Border inspection specialists with USDA-APHIS
- Research/outreach with non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
- Pest control product development and testing
- Pest survey and management positions with federal, state, and local organizations
- Entomologist
- Nematologist
- Plant pathologist
Plant Protection focus area faculty and their interests:
- Orchard fungal ecology
- Fungicide resistance
- Pesticide stewardship
- Fruit pathology
- Biological weed management
- Invasive species
- Weed ecology
- Molecular interactions among plant pathogens, insect vectors, and plant hosts
- Mycology, Fungal systematics, Fungal pathogens of insects
- Environmental responses; Adaptation; temperature; immunity; plants
- Ornamental and greenhouse integrated pest management
- On-farm research
- Precision agriculture
- Site-specific weed management and variable rate nitrogen management
- Insect biodiversity and conservation
- Management of endangered or declining insect populations
- Management of pest insect populations
- Genetics of quantitative disease resistance in plants
- International agriculture and rural development
- Mycotoxin management
- Evolutionary and population genomics, Innate immunity in fungi and fungal-bacterial interactions, Arbuscular mycorrhizae
- Biology and management of vegetable diseases
- Host-pathogen interactions
- Physiology and post-harvest management
- Plant disease diagnosis
- Plant pathology training of Master Gardeners, Extension Educators, and green industry members
Visit the Plant Systems program page.
Plant Systems careers:
- Garden educator
- Urban forester
- Arborist
- Landscape designer
- Landscape technician
- Plant ecologist
- Extension educator
- Crop consultant
- Lab or field scientist
- Specialty crop entrepreneur
- Ecosystem analyst
- Food system specialist
- Non-profit agriculture organization leader
- Orchard manager
- Paleobotanist
- Forensic botanist
- Greenhouse/nursery specialist
- Flower bulb specialist
- Agricultural educator
- Berry grower
- Vegetable grower
- Specialty crop grower/organic farmer
Plant Systems focus area faculty and their interests:
- Street trees
- woody plant propagation
- landscape management
- Ornamental plant breeding
- Cell and tissue culture
- Greenhouse floriculture
- Plant systematics and phylogeny
- Flowering plants
- Paleobotany
- Molecular interactions among plant pathogens, insect vectors, and plant hosts
- Garden-based learning
- Mycology
- Fungal systematics
- Fungal pathogens of insects
- Environmental responses; Adaptation; temperature; immunity; plants
- Agricultural robotics and artificial Intelligence
- High throughput plant phenotyping
- Image processing
- Ornamental and greenhouse integrated pest management
- Grape stress physiology genetics and genomics
- Flower bulbs and floriculture
- Greenhouse and nursery crops
- Physiology and post-harvest management
- CEA/Greenhouse hemp production
- Evolution of plant specialized metabolism, plant natural variation; genomics, metabolomics
- Evolutionary and population genomics
- Innate immunity in fungi and fungal-bacterial interactions
- Arbuscular mycorrhizae
- Tree fruits
- Hard cider
- Organic production
- Extension Education
- Teaching Methods
- Youth Leadership Development
- Berry crops
- Season extension
- Sustainable production practices
- Fresh market vegetable production
- Organic and reduced tillage vegetable production
- Small farms and sustainable agriculture
- Organic gardening
- Processing vegetables (peas, beans, sweet corn)
- Vegetable production systems
- Lawn, golf and sports turf,
- Urban grasslands management
- Plants and human well being
- Public garden management School & youth gardening, adult education
- Plant disease diagnosis
- Plant pathology training of Master Gardeners, Extension Educators, and green industry members
- Agricultural and forest ecosystems
- Geospatial modeling, land use and environmental quality
- Greenhouse gas emissions
Visit the Public Garden Leadership program page.
Public Garden Leadership careers:
- Botanical garden educator
- Outreach coordinator
- Volunteer manager
- Fundraising specialist
- Plant record manager
- Marketing and communications specialist
- Horticulturist
- Greenhouse grower
- Conservation manager
- Plant biologist
- Soil scientist
- Botanist
Public Garden Leadership focus area faculty and their interests:
- Street trees
- woody plant propagation
- landscape management
- Botanical history
- Equitable access to parks and green spaces
- Public garden management and social impact
- Plants and human well being
- Public garden management School & youth gardening, adult education
Visit the Soil Science program page.
Soil Science careers:
- Soil scientist
- Soil conservationist
- Soil health specialist
- Soil microbiologist
- Biochar specialist
- Urban soil specialist
- Tropical soil specialist
- Local, state, federal and international agencies with programs in agriculture and the environment
- Agronomic services companies
- Private consulting firms
- Environmental advocacy and policy organizations (NGOs, etc.)
Soil Science focus area faculty and their interests:
- Bacterial population structure in soils
- Microbial diversity
- Biological weed management
- Invasive species
- Weed ecology
- Natural resources and the environment
- Soil hyperspectral reflectance
- Watershed education
- Soil biogeochemistry, fertility management, organic matter, and carbon and nutrient cycling from wastes
- Soil carbon sequestration and biochar systems
- Sustainable agriculture in the tropics
- Nutrient and mineral cycling
- Soil biogeochemistry
- Soil organic matter
- Soil surveys
- Spatial arrangement and characterization of soil properties, nutrient and contaminant distribution
- Urban soils
- International agriculture
- Soil biology quality assessment and remediation
- Soil ecology
- Digital agriculture
- Precision nitrogen management (Adapt-N)
- Soil health
- Biochar
- Soil carbon sequestration and climate-smart agriculture
- Sustainable landscape management, agroforestry reforestration and restoration of degraded land
Visit the Viticulture program page.
Viticulture careers:
- Vineyard production advisor
- Vineyard manager
- Grape production consultant
- Extension educator
- Winemaker
- Viticulturist
- Enologist
- Viticulture teaching, research and business
Viticulture focus area faculty and their interests:
- Grape stress physiology genetics and genomics
- Viticulture
- Computational tools for vineyard management
- Ecophysiological factors and their impact on fruit and wine composition
- Sustainable viticulture production