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.


For salmonella detection, genomic tool emerges as a key

The world’s food supply will become safer as the food industry shifts to high-resolution, whole-genome sequencing – which examines the full DNA of a given organism all at once.

Worm pheromones protect major crops, BTI scientists find

Protecting crops from pests and pathogens without pesticides has been a longtime goal of farmers. Researchers at Boyce Thompson Institute have found that compounds from microscopic soil roundworms could achieve this aim.

Street smarts: Cornell paves the way for safer roads in NYS

The Cornell Local Roads Program improves New York’s roads by serving the 1,500 village, town and county officials who maintain them, with workshops, technical assistance and up-to-date best practices.

Innovative AI system could help make fuel cells more efficient

An artificial intelligence system developed by a Cornell-led team has identified a promising material for creating more efficient fuel cells – a potential breakthrough in both materials science and machine learning.

Howarth advised on methane portions of NY’s new climate law

Cornell professor Bob Howarth played a key role – reckoning methane as a carbon dioxide equivalent – in New York’s Climate Leadership and Communities Protection Act.

Workshop fuels discussion about biochar, NYS climate goals

Cornell and the Atkinson Center helped organize a workshop, “Helping NYS address its climate goals through thermochemical conversion,” on July 16 to develop opportunities for New York to meet its climate goals.

Macroeconomics workshop examines lessons from 2008 crisis

Cornell hosted a two-day workshop in late June addressing criticisms of contemporary macroeconomics, organized by professor Kieran Donaghy with support from the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future.

Smart irrigation model predicts rainfall to conserve water

A predictive model combining information about plant physiology, real-time soil conditions and weather forecasts can save 40% of the water consumed by traditional irrigation strategies, according to new Cornell research.

Nice catch: Cornell scientists net 139-pound Oneida Lake sturgeon

Researchers from the Cornell Biological Field Station, caught, tagged and released a 139-pound lake sturgeon – possibly the largest fish ever caught on that lake.