Energy, Environment & Sustainability

Cornell is a global leader in sustainability and climate change research, teaching and engagement. Our campuses are living laboratories for developing, testing and implementing solutions that address these most challenging issues.


Farm of the future sows digital seeds

An experimental vineyard at the Cornell Lake Erie Research and Extension Laboratory is becoming the university’s first living laboratory of precision, autonomy and sustainability, supporting the grape industry in New York and Pennsylvania.

Solar farm shade in the fall reduces radish and radicchio yields

A series of studies by Cornell researchers is testing how crops might grow when planted between rows of solar panels on a solar farm in New York state. 

Cornell Tech’s new faculty are building tech that thinks, feels, and teaches

With three Sloan Fellows, three NSF CAREER Award winners, and a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree among them, this year’s new faculty cohort arrives with notable accolades and ambitions.

Around Cornell

Former Colombian president will launch Climate Impact Speaker Series

The Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability’s 2025 Climate Impact Speaker Series will kick off Sept. 2 with former president of Colombia Iván Duque, who from 2018-22 oversaw the country’s dramatic expansion of renewable energy.

Certain communities of pond plants may increase greenhouse gases

The findings could lead to aquatic plant management strategies that help mitigate the release of gases such as methane, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide. 

Plant cell wall mechanics inform how to grow usable forms

Cornell scientists work toward engineering plants and other organisms to grow into usable, biodegradable forms.

Cornell Atkinson-The Nature Conservancy awards promote biodiversity, climate resilience

Six projects led by Cornell and The Nature Conservancy researchers have been awarded grants from Cornell Atkinson.

Around Cornell

Lab of Ornithology hits 2 billion bird sightings, 3 million recordings

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology and its eBird program, a participatory-science platform in which anyone around the world can submit bird sightings and sounds for scientists to use in research, recently hit a pair of major milestones.

New pesticides provide challenging alternatives to neonicotinoids

Options other than neonicotinoids can help farmers who grow large-seeded vegetable crops such as snap bean, dry bean and sweet corn.