The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20260922184118/https://cals.cornell.edu/research
Cornell seal
Back

Discover CALS

See how our current work and research is bringing new thinking and new solutions to some of today's biggest challenges.

Two women review an apple tree in an orchard

Research

We accelerate purpose-driven science by supporting inquiry that crosses disciplinary boundaries and stretches from discovery to invention.

Purpose-driven science? We literally wrote the book on it.

The first undergraduate textbooks in mammology, ornithology and food science? Check. The first successful integration of botany and zoology in 1967’s Biological Science? Check. A 1925 handbook of nature study that is still a primary resource on the subject? Check.

The research of Cornell CALS scientists, students and staff hasn’t just informed discovery and innovation, but it is also the foundation upon which fields of study have been built.

In this section

Undergraduate research

Discovering new genes

Cameron Xu ’26 is using biometry and statistics to help Cornell CALS animal science professor Vimal Selvaraj identify new genes. Together, they’re investigating how steroid hormones regulate the body’s processes, uncovering new knowledge that could advance cancer research and solve other human health challenges.

Explore synthetic biology at CALS
Play CALS Undergraduate Research Experience: Cameron Xu '26

Latest news, discoveries and breakthroughs

Explore the work we’re doing today and discover how it’s reshaping tomorrow.

Fungi

News

Fungi nutrient sensing breakthrough may aid green tech, disease control

Fungal diseases can contribute up to 20% of staple crop losses and drug-resistant fungal infections lead to some 3.8 million human deaths, globally per year.

  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section
panel of grape leaf samples

News

‘HyperBird’ spots grape diseases before they’re visible

The cutting-edge imaging platform observes microscopic traits in plants and can detect grape diseases that cost vineyard owners billions in annual losses globally.

  • Cornell AgriTech
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Horticulture Section
Microscopy image of a mutant flower bud with wrinkled and irregular sepals

News

Wrinkled or smooth? Cell growth mechanics determine shape of plant organs

This discovery could help engineer living materials into different forms, such as the custom of growing bridges from roots in India, and breeding kale so it’s smooth instead of crinkly.

  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Plant Biology Section
  • Plants
View more news & stories
Research in lab

Undergraduate opportunities

Plant Science researchers working in a lab.
Graduate student grants

Opportunities include Andrew W. Mellon Student Research Grants, Arthur Boller Research Fund, Kieckhefer Adirondack Fellowships and Grant Proposal Application Instructions

researcher in field

Faculty research support