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Anderson receives NSF CAREER award for renewable energy work

News

April 1, 2015

C. Lindsay Anderson, assistant professor and Norman R. Scott Sesquicentennial Faculty Fellow in the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering, has received the prestigious NSF CAREER Award for her proposal, “Maximizing Renewable...

A woman stands in front of a chalkboard while teaching

CALS alum returns, brings real-world experience to infrastructure program

News

March 31, 2015

College of Agriculture and Life Sciencesalum Scott Zuchorski ’97 first visited Cornell as a child accompanying his father, a ‘69 graduate from CALS who returned to campus for the annual Seeley Conference every summer and the occasional football...

CALS international ties take plant breeding researchers to Thailand

News

March 30, 2015

While many students and faculty take a short breather over spring break, Mark Sorrells – professor of Plant Breeding and Genetics in the School of Integrative Plant Science – is spending his vacation traveling to Thailand and teaching a one-week...

A large building near a lake reflects onto the still lake

System of Rice Intensification earns Olam food security prize

News

March 17, 2015

The System of Rice Intensification (SRI), an agro-ecological method of growing rice that enhances crop yields and is resilient to the adverse effects of climate change, has been awarded the international Olam Prize for Innovation in Food...

CALS Prof Drew Harvell backs call for Congress to support efforts to understand massive Pacific coast starfish die off.

News

March 16, 2015

“This is a start, and you’ve got to start somewhere. … “I’ve certainly done a lot of soul-searching about this: Why should people care about starfish when we’ve got some really huge human-related issues internationally? ISIS is just one small...

A woman stands in a dark room with her hand in the water of a large aquarium in the room

Piezoelectric prize: Beating wings can generate power for scientific research

News

March 12, 2015

A technology that generates electricity from the beating wings of birds, bats or even moths could produce enough power to run a device that collects data – such as location, migration habits or vital physiological statistics – used by biologists...

A pigeon wearing a device on its back that is collecting vibration energy

Climate change to dramatically alter NY’s biggest interior lake by 2099

News

March 11, 2015

By the end of this century, the temperature of Oneida Lake – New York state’s largest interior lake – will likely be higher by about 6 degrees Fahrenheit. This would be enough to remove oxygen from its bottom waters, alter its species...

Biological Field Station

A boat sits on a lake filled with blue-green algae

Cornell, USDA team finds new method to find bad mutations in maize crops

News

March 11, 2015

Cornell researchers have developed a way to predict bad mutations in the maize genome, addressing a major challenge for breeders trying to grow better crops and feed rising populations. The researchers found regions of the genome that were...

New faculty focus: Goula says collaboration key to landscape design

News

March 10, 2015

By Celina Scott-Buechler Landscape architecture, says Maria Goula, is where the natural and social sciences intersect. Goula, a new associate professor at CALS, recently moved here from her post as vice dean of Landscape Architecture Studies at...

A woman gives a presentation while standing at a podium

New pest-fighting, yield-boosting alfalfa varieties ready to help farmers

News

March 10, 2015

Dairy and other livestock farmers in the northern U.S. have three new alfalfa options this growing season – all pioneered by Cornell researchers as a way to combat devastating pests, increase yields and improve forage quality. Developed by...

Cornell team helping develop ecological corridors to preserve Andean bears and other species

News

March 10, 2015

What is the best way to conserve biodiversity in Ecuador’s Andes Mountains? Start with the bears. A Cornell research team is joining local efforts in Ecuador to help design a socio-ecological corridor that could help save endangered, threatened...

A group of people stand with their arms around each other in the mountains of Ecuador

Roc mom studies show online tools help avoid excess weight gain

News

March 9, 2015

Websites and phone apps that offer information and tools can be effective in preventing major weight gain and obesity associated with pregnancy, according to Cornell studies. These so-called e-interventions provide alternatives for doctors and...

A graphic depicting weight gain tracking technology

Pilot project lets satellite images and cell-phone apps steer African herders

News

March 9, 2015

Space-age technology is coming to the aid of rural herders in Kenya, helping them deal with drought, climate change, civil unrest and land-use pressures that threaten food security in the region. In a pilot project launched by Cornell...

Two men stand with a cow wearing a collar in Kenya

Smolka Lab: DNA safeguard may be key in cancer treatment

News

March 6, 2015

Cornell researchers have developed a new technique to understand the actions of key proteins required for cancer cells to proliferate. The technique will help guide the development of drugs currently in clinical trials for anti-cancer treatments...

New faculty focus: Messer tracking rapid evolution with powerful new tools

News

March 3, 2015

By Celina Scott-Buechler Charles Darwin’s lament was that he would never seesignificant evolutionary changes occur in a species within his lifetime. Theprocess of species changing their genetic code and observable characteristics, he felt, was...

Book notes: Humans increasingly heal, and are healed by nature

News

March 3, 2015

Around the world, people continually come together to rebuild and restore local environments affected by crisis or disaster. In New Orleans after Katrina, in New York after Sandy, in Soweto after apartheid and elsewhere, people unite to restore...

A man and a woman stand in a boat on a river with fishing rods in the water

Many join the 1 percent, but few stay and some face longer odds

News

February 18, 2015

By John Carberry and Ellen Leventry Here’s some good news for the New Year: According to new research by Tom Hirschl, professor of development sociology at Cornell University, and Mark Rank of Washington University in St. Louis, there’s a 1-in-9...

More Americans accept “climate change” but doubt “global warming”

News

February 17, 2015

Stop someone on the street in the storm-battered Northeast (or Northwest or just about anywhere in between) this winter. Ask about “global warming” and you’d better be prepared for a heated debate. Ask about “climate change” and cooler heads may...

New faculty focus: Dyson’s Hwang watches social media and the markets

News

February 17, 2015

By Celina Scott-Buechler #sexylist2014, #mtvhits, #katyperrysexist, #NASDAQ, #stocks. Believe it or not, these are all trending social media hashtags. But is finance really a topic of social media buzz? “An increasingly popular one,” Assistant...

CALS faculty working to reduce crop molds for healthier babies

News

February 16, 2015

Malnutrition is responsible for more than two million children’s deaths annually, and too little food is not the only problem. Sometimes even adequate diets—rich in corn and nuts, for instance—aren’t enough to nourish babies and children, when...

One hand holds moldy corn and another hand holds non-moldy corn