Cheap, user-friendly smartphone app predicts vineyard yields

News

The new method allows a grower to use a smartphone to video grape vines while driving a tractor or walking through the vineyard at night. Growers may then upload their video to a server to process the data. The system relies on computer-vision...
  • Cornell AgriTech
  • Cornell Institute for Digital Agriculture
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Horticulture Section
  • Agriculture
  • Crops
  • Horticulture
Rows of grape vines in a field at Cornell AgriTech Gates farm.

Grape genetics research reveals what makes the perfect flower

News

When today’s growers cultivate new varieties — trying to produce better tasting and more disease-resistant grapes — it takes 2-4 years for breeders to learn if they have the genetic ingredients for the perfect flower. Females set fruit, but...
  • Cornell AgriTech
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Horticulture Section
  • Plant Breeding and Genetics Section
  • Evolution
  • Genetics
  • Beverages
  • Plants
  • Horticulture
Grape flowers

Startup’s sustainable tech takes food farther

News

But the high cost of cold storage had become “a pinching point.” To ship $2,000 worth of potatoes to Dubai in a refrigerated container in the summer, he’d pay $3,000 – losing $1,000 in profits before the product even got to the buyer. But to...
  • Food Science
  • Food
  • Vegetables
A man wearing a helmet and a face mask reaching across a big pile of potatoes

Tanzanian farmers boost diets with sustainable methods

News

The farmers experimented with practices introduced to them by Malawian farmers and Tanzanian and American scientists, decided which ones to incorporate within their own farms, and met monthly to share experiences and problem-solve. The three...
  • Cornell Atkinson
  • Global Development Section
  • Agriculture
  • Food
  • Global Development
  • Development
  • Health + Nutrition
  • Crops
Tanzanian farmers standing and talking in a field

Michael L. Thonney, sheep management expert, dies at 71

News

Michael L. Thonney, professor in the Department of Animal Science and director of graduate studies in the field of animal science, died April 23 in Ithaca. He was 71. Over a Cornell career that spanned more than 45 years, Thonney made numerous...
  • Cornell Atkinson
  • Animal Science
  • Animals
  • Climate Change

Evanega wins 2021 Borlaug CAST Communication Award

News

The award recognizes Cornell Alliance for Science Director Sarah Evanega, Ph.D. ’09 for outstanding achievement in the advancement of science in the public policy arena.
  • Global Development Section
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Plant Biology Section
  • Global Development
A group of women with bt eggplant in a field

In Memorium: Chuck Mohler

News

Charles “Chuck” Leon Mohler (73), senior research associate in the Section of Soil and Crop Sciences, School of Integrative Plant Science, at Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, died April 1, 2021. Dr. Mohler was born in Salem...
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Soil and Crop Sciences Section
  • Organic
field of corn with sun in the background

Study: Vitamin D won’t limit risk, severity of COVID-19

News

Multiple studies had suggested an association between vitamin D and COVID-19 risk, raising hopes that vitamin D supplements might help to prevent or minimize infections – speculation that has received widespread media attention and boosted...
  • Nutritional Sciences
  • Molecular Biology and Genetics
  • Health + Nutrition
  • Disease
  • Medicine
Yellowish, clear vitamin D pills

Swiping, swabbing elevates processing plant food safety

News

“Food scientists know that for processing plants, visual inspection is not a reliable indicator of cleaning-protocol success,” said Randy Worobo, professor of food science in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) and faculty fellow...
  • Cornell Atkinson
  • Cornell AgriTech
  • Food Science
  • Food
  • Health + Nutrition
A gloved hand cleans a glass surface

18.5M-year-old vine fossil identified as new species

News

The new species, named Ampelorhiza heteroxylon, belongs to a diverse group of tropical lianas called Paullinieae, within the soapberry family (Sapindaceae). More than 475 species of Paullinieae live in the tropics today. Researchers identified...
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Plant Biology Section
  • Biology
  • Environment
  • Plants
Paullinia up close

Gandolfo profiled in Museum of the Earth exhibit

News

Alejandra Gandolfo, associate professor in the Plant Biology Section of the School of Integrative Plant Science, is profiled in Daring to Dig: Women in American Paleontology, an exhibit from the Museum of the Earth and the Paleontological...
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Plant Biology Section
Alejandra Gandolfo

Leading Through Extension: Supporting Families

Multimedia

News

In the early days of Cornell University’s College of Human Ecology, Extension educators traveled around the state in demonstration trains to engage directly with families, especially farm wives, in their homes. Today, Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) Associate Director Kimberly Kopko is reimagining ways to meet families where they are with more portable parenting models that bring learning opportunities to spaces where families already get together, including schools, community and health centers, and, when necessary, online.
  • Cornell Cooperative Extension
Kimberly Kopko

Vegetable expert shares gardening advice

News

It was March 2020. The realities of the COVID-19 pandemic were becoming apparent. It looked like the world was going to be in for an uncertain and possibly painful spring and summer – if not longer. “It really had me doing some soul-searching,”...
  • Cornell AgriTech
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Horticulture Section
reiners speaking at field day

Cornell Humphrey Fellows help conserve Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge

News

Migratory birds are a welcome sight at the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, a nearly 10,000-acre refuge and breeding ground for birds and native wildlife. But there’s an unwelcome visitor establishing itself in the refuge in the heart of the...
  • Global Development Section
  • Global Development
A group uses shovels in a marsh area

V&E Undergraduate Alumni Reflect on Their Experience at Cornell

News

History of Cornell’s Undergraduate Program in Viticulture and Enology Compared to Cornell University’s long and impactful history with wine and grape research, the undergraduate program for Viticulture and Enology (V&E) is still young...
  • Food Science
  • Viticulture and Enology
  • Food
Matt Gura is overseing operations for a new venture

Agrawal, Hanson elected to National Academy of Sciences

News

Anurag Agrawal, the James A. Perkins Professor of Environmental Studies in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and Maureen Hanson, the Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics (CALS, Arts and...
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Plant Biology Section
  • Molecular Biology and Genetics
  • Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
  • Entomology
  • Biology
  • Evolution
  • Genetics
  • Environment
  • Health + Nutrition
  • Disease
  • Medicine
  • Plants