Working to understand ecological systems and evolutionary change
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
In our department we value science and education grounded in the natural history of organisms, and strive to understand the patterns and processes that structure communities and ecosystems, and drive evolutionary change over all geographical and time scales. As new methods provide insight into ecological and evolutionary mechanism and function, we seek to refine fundamental concepts, integrate findings into novel theory, and address environmental challenges. As a department we are committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, justice and belonging - values that underlie all we do.
Bryce teaching the locals about hawks; the bird was handled carefully with appropriate permits, then released unharmed, back into the wild.
Research Spotlight
EEB grad student Bryce Robinson travels across much of the lower 48 states to study Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) in an attempt to gather extensive range-wide samples and uncover the evolutionary history of this highly diverse raptor. A common and widespread species, the Red-tailed Hawk represents an excellent opportunity to understand the evolution and maintenance of traits such as plumage polymorphism, both between and within populations. Bryce is a member of the team behind The Red-tailed Hawk Project, a research collaboration focused on the ecology and evolution ofthese birds.
EEB professor emeritus, Jim Morin in the news: In sea fireflies’ (ostracod) underwater ballet, the males sway together in perfect, illuminated synchronization, basking in the blue-like glow of their secreted iridescent mucus. This ostracod species was first discovered in 2017 Morin, while at the STR...
EEB team from the Lodge Lab reports in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: the genetic material a species sheds into the environment (eDNA) can reveal not only the presence of the species but also a broad range of information about the genetics of whole populations. The use of eDNA ...
Holgerson Lab joins multidisciplinary team from CALS at EEB's Experimental Ponds Facility to examine how floating solar panels on the research ponds affect the abiotic and biotic parts of water; and how microbes, macroinvertebrates, aquatic plants and fish fare. The three-year project is funded by t...
Sudan Kariuki from the Sparks Lab among Cornell graduate student recipients of a Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad award. The Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies – the home of Cornell’s Fulbright program – advises and supports students throughout the application process...
Undergraduate students in scientific field courses often talk about their research with mentors, peers, family and friends and those interactions are important in shaping student views of themselves as scientists, according to research by EEB doctoral student David Esparza from the Smith Lab.
Department of Energy funds Cornell-led project headed by EEB's Frank H.T. Rhodes Professor of Environmental Science, Christy Goodale: understanding the role the nitrogen cycle and its seasonal variations play in estimates of future carbon uptake by the biosphere. Studies will be conducted Hubbard Br...
EEB prof and CALS Dean, Ben Houlton leads new study: state-of-the-art agricultural technology and management can not only reduce that growth, but eliminate it altogether by generating net negative emissions – reducing more greenhouse gas than food systems add. In fact, employing additional agricultu...
Senior author and EEB assistant prof Meredith Holgerson reports: Pond emission measurements improve climate predictions. This new study measures methane and carbon dioxide emissions from 30 small lakes and ponds (one acre or less) in temperate areas of Europe and North America, revealing that the sm...