Cornell faculty are reaching across disciplines to tackle society’s most complex challenges and to make breakthrough discoveries. These radical collaborations—collisions of thoughts and perspectives from vastly different fields—lead to unexpected and unconventional solutions and deepen our thinking.


Satellite images of plants’ fluorescence can predict crop yields

Cornell researchers and collaborators have developed a new framework that allows scientists to predict crop yield without the need for enormous amounts of high-quality data – which is often scarce in developing countries, especially those facing heightened food insecurity and climate risk. 

Grow as you go: ‘Peecycling’ helps plants and compost thrive

Human urine could be a handy resource in tending home gardens and compost piles, thanks to an interdisciplinary collaboration between two Cornell Engineering students and plant scientist Rebecca Nelson.

Student startups pitch innovations in Silicon Valley

Student teams from eLab, Cornell’s student startup accelerator, and Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute Runway Startup Program at Cornell Tech pitched their innovative ideas at San Francisco’s Autodesk Gallery on March 28.   

Around Cornell

New animal science facility supports methane reduction, climate resiliency

Cornell researchers and administrators joined industry and government partners to celebrate the opening of new animal respiration stalls in the Department of Animal Science.

CTI grant recipients build student confidence, connection

In 2023-2024 the Center for Teaching Innovation (CTI) awarded Innovative Teaching and Learning Grants to seven recipients. This year, two of those recipients' projects focus on building empathy into their courses to promote student learning.

Around Cornell

New book gives insider’s view of cosmic search for life

Clues about life on exoplanets could be as strange as a bioluminescent glow or a rainbow hue, astronomer Lisa Kaltenegger describes in her new book, “Alien Earths: The New Science of Planet Hunting in the Cosmos.” 

Researchers produce grafts that replicate the human ear

Using state-of-the-art tissue engineering techniques and a 3D printer, researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and Cornell Engineering have assembled a replica of an adult human ear that looks and feels natural. 

Nabokov celebrated for crossing arts/science boundaries

Campus and community members celebrated the environmental and literary legacies of former Cornell professor Vladimir Nabokov during events on campus March 14 and 15.

Around Cornell

Innovation in Action: SC Johnson College of Business and CIT Join Forces

The SC Johnson College of Business has taken a creative approach to revamping their data analytics environment. With the help of Cornell Information Technologies, they launched “Connect360,” the goal of which was to extract, organize, analyze, and present targeted graduate admissions data, which comes from multiple source systems, in a unified dashboard.

Around Cornell