Prof Clark among A&S New Frontier Grant recipients

The Clark Lab project: "Developing an endangered equid as an integrative model for understanding species persistence and extinction," among projects awarded as part of the College of Arts and Sciences New Frontier Grant program. The projects span across the sciences, social sciences and humanities in this latest round, for novel investigations ranging from quantum computing to foreign policy development and from heritage forensics to effects of climate change.

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EEB prof Goodale to serve as Nexus Scholars Program mentor this summer

This summer, 101 students in the College of Arts and Sciences will take part in groundbreaking research on campus with 61 faculty as part of the Nexus Scholars Program. For many of these students, this will be their first research opportunity and they’ll work on projects with faculty across the college – in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and mathematics.

/news/eeb-prof-goodale-serve-nexus-scholars-program-mentor-summer

Climate change creates ‘win-win’ between bald eagles and farmers

EEB graduate student Ethan Duvall lead author in new study: The mutually beneficial relationship is described in “A Win-Win Between Farmers and an Apex Predator: Investigating the Relationship Between Bald Eagles and Dairy Farms,” which published March 10 in the journal Ecosphere.

/news/climate-change-creates-win-win-between-bald-eagles-and-farmers

Babonis, et al., report: Single gene causes stinging cell to lose its sting

EEB assistant professor Leslie Babonis et al., report: Single-cell atavism reveals an ancient mechanism of cell type diversification in the sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis when disabling a gene, called NvSox2 -- this causes a transition from a piercing cell, to a sticky, ensnaring cell.

/news/babonis-et-al-report-single-gene-causes-stinging-cell-lose-its-sting

Drew Harvell among 12 faculty members elected AAAS fellows

EEB prof emerita Drew Harvell is among 12 Cornell faculty elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society. Harvell was honored for distinguished contributions to the fields of ecology and oceanography, particularly for increasing our understanding of disease resistance in marine invertebrates and impacts of climate change, and communicating these findings in award-winning books, including 2019’s “Ocean Outbreak.”

/news/drew-harvell-among-12-faculty-members-elected-aaas-fellows

Mating causes ‘jet lag’ in female fruit flies, changing behavior

EEB and MBG prof Andrew Clark's Lab and collaborators investigate the expression of genes related to the fruit fly circadian clock: The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could help explain how this protein, called sex peptide, alters the female’s behavior.

/news/mating-causes-jet-lag-female-fruit-flies-changing-behavior-0

‘BirdFlow’ model could reveal mysteries of bird migration

Lovette Lab postdoc and co-author Benjamin Van Doren collaborates to develop new computer model: BirdFlow will predict migratory bird movement giving new insights into migration timing, stopover sites, response to climate change, and light pollution, as it learns the patterns and variations in movement for individual species.

/news/birdflow-model-could-reveal-mysteries-bird-migration

Rare drought coincided with Hittite Empire collapse

An interdisciplinary collaboration used tree ring and isotope records to pinpoint a likely culprit: three straight years of severe drought in an already dry period.

/news/rare-drought-coincided-hittite-empire-collapse

Howarth advises senators to shrink NY’s natural gas options

New York’s Climate Action Council member Prof Howarth advises state senators in drafting the Climate Action Council Final Scoping Plan which will serve as the blueprint to implement the groundbreaking New York State Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) – the state’s key environmental law for mitigating climate change.

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Ancient farming strategy holds promise for climate resilience

A paper by Cornell researchers suggests maslins have the unique capacity to adapt in real time to extreme weather.

/news/ancient-farming-strategy-holds-promise-climate-resilience

Drew Harvell named US Science Envoy by State Department

Professor emerita, Drew Harvell one of seven U.S. researchers named 2023 U.S. Science Envoys by the Department of State, in partnership with the nonprofit Meridian International Center. The U.S. Science Envoys will engage internationally at the citizen and government levels to enhance relationships between other nations and the United States, develop partnerships and improve collaboration.

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Florida Field Course benefits biology students, study finds

A longitudinal study of course participants connects participation with higher rates of publications and faculty positions.

/news/florida-field-course-benefits-biology-students-study-finds

Reed lab reveals: Butterfly wing patterns emerge from ancient ‘junk’ DNA

Butterfly wing patterns have a basic plan to them, which is manipulated by non-coding regulatory DNA to create the diversity of wings seen in different species, according to new research. New study explains how DNA that sits between genes – called ‘junk’ DNA or non-coding regulatory DNA.

/news/reed-lab-reveals-butterfly-wing-patterns-emerge-ancient-junk-dna

Flecker helps lead Cornell team: Schmidt AI in Science Postdoc Fellowship

Cornell is one of nine universities worldwide selected to join the Schmidt AI in Science Postdoctoral Fellowship, a program of Schmidt Futures, to accelerate the next scientific revolution by applying AI to research in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

/news/flecker-helps-lead-cornell-team-schmidt-ai-science-postdoc-fellowship

Dean Houlton partners with "smart carbon capture" team

The rock dust project is one of several “smart carbon capture” studies being led by scientists in CALS that not only address the existential threat of a changing climate, but also support farmers, human nutrition, wildlife and more. “The only way to address the climate crisis is to develop holistic solutions that also create co-benefits, especially for industry, landowners and farmers who are critical allies in this fight,” says Houlton.

/news/dean-houlton-partners-smart-carbon-capture-team

Corrie Moreau to lead diversity and inclusion efforts at CALS

Benjamin Z. Houlton, the Ronald P. Lynch Dean, has announced the appointment of Corrie S. Moreau as the inaugural senior associate dean of diversity and inclusion for CALS. Her three-year appointment is effective Jan. 2, 2023, and will run through Dec. 31, 2025.

/news/corrie-moreau-lead-diversity-and-inclusion-efforts-cals

Howarth Lab joins the 2030 Project: A Cornell Climate Initiative

The Howarth Lab will develop tools to help New York governments consistently estimate greenhouse gas emissions as part of the 2030 Project: A Cornell Climate Initiative, which is mobilizing faculty to develop and accelerate tangible solutions to a warming world.

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Welcome new faculty, Swanne Gordon and Andrés López-Sepulcre

This semester our department welcomed new faculty members Swanne Gordon and Andrés López-Sepulcre helping to advance our department's commitment to pursuing purpose-driven science while promoting diversity and inclusion initiatives.

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Vitousek co-authors study: Climate change affects size of tree swallows

EEB associate prof Vitousek co-authors study: In an adaptation to climate change, tree swallows have become smaller over the last three decades, an ongoing study based in Tompkins County has found.

/news/vitousek-co-authors-study-climate-change-affects-size-tree-swallows

Active Learning Initiative, at 10, elevates teaching and belonging

The initiative has supported classes in the humanities, the social and natural sciences, mathematics, information science and engineering.

/news/active-learning-initiative-10-elevates-teaching-and-belonging

A&S opens application portal for Klarman postdoc fellowships

Klarman Fellows pursue research in any discipline in the College, including natural sciences, social sciences, humanities and the creative arts as well as cross-disciplinary fields. The application deadline is October 14.

/news/opens-application-portal-klarman-postdoc-fellowships

Aquadro honored for contributions to population genetics

A world leader in the study of population genetics of the fruit fly, Aquadro studies the amount of diversity that exists within and between the genomes of organisms.

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EEB Doctoral Student Nankabirwa Receives Africa Fund Fellowship

Angela Nankabirwa's Africa Fund Fellowship is supporting efforts to collect and analyze harmful algal bloom samples taken from Africa’s Lake Victoria this summer.

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Study identifies 'transformative learning experiences’ of field courses

While many scientists say field courses shaped their careers and benefit their students, few studies quantify their effects. Cornell researchers want to change that.

/news/study-identifies-transformative-learning-experiences-field-courses

Chasing carbon from trees to soils

A group of students, including some in the Nexus Scholars Program, completed field work and analysis this summer on soil coming from a long-term forest fertilization experiment.

/news/chasing-carbon-trees-soils

AI reveals scale of eelgrass vulnerability to warming, disease

EEB faculty and grad students part of Cornell research team using a combination of ecological field methods and cutting-edge AI to help detect eelgrass wasting disease.

/news/ai-reveals-scale-eelgrass-vulnerability-warming-disease

Cornell Atkinson awards $1.4 million to new sustainability projects

This year’s Academic Venture Fund (AVF) seed grants for research support equitable and sustainable development, offshore wind energy, and improved indoor air quality.

/news/cornell-atkinson-awards-14-million-new-sustainability-projects

Study to focus on climate impact of NYS ponds, wetlands

EEB assistant prof Meredith Holgerson receives 3-year grant from the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation to examine greenhouse gas dynamics related to ponds and wetlands.

/news/study-focus-climate-impact-nys-ponds-wetlands

Amazon River freshwater fish show signs of overexploitation

Cornell Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow and EEB grad student Sebastian Heilpern leads Cornell/multi-national research team: overexploitation of freshwater fish in the Amazon River.

/news/amazon-river-freshwater-fish-show-signs-overexploitation

Jellyfish’s stinging cells hold clues to biodiversity

Biologist Leslie Babonis studied sea anemones to understand how a neuron could be reprogrammed to make a new cell.

/news/jellyfishs-stinging-cells-hold-clues-biodiversity

Agrawal, Hanson elected to National Academy of Sciences

Anurag Agrawal, the James A. Perkins Professor of Environmental Studies in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and Maureen Hanson, the Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics (CALS, Arts and Sciences), have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, the academy announced April 26.The ...

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Bugged out! Exhibit displays insect diversity and importance

Six insect displays from the exhibit arranged by color highlight insect beauty and diversity (image borrowed from original article).Insects are by far the most diverse group of animals on the planet, with more than 1 million estimated known species, and many millions more that have yet to be named. A 2018 study estimates there could be as...

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Rare, endangered insects illegally for sale online

EEB grad student Juan Pablo Jordán part of Cornell research team surveying the Internet to determine if there are insect species available for sale that are rare, threatened, or for which commerce is in some way regulated.

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Vertebrate Museum part of cross-college research team: mummy bird mystery

Over the last several months, a certain bird – believed to be a sacred ibis – has been drawing a lot of attention, and covering a lot of ground, from the College of Arts and Sciences to the College of Veterinary Medicine, College of Engineering and, later, the Lab of Ornithology.

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Student Spotlight: David Esparza

Originally from El Paso, Texas, Esparza chose Cornell for his Ph.D. because of its commitment to evidence-based teaching methods, its continued support of undergraduate field science education, and the friendly culture at Cornell EEB.

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More than $12M donated to support students in 24 hours

On Cornell’s eighth Giving Day, held March 16, 15,905 alumni, students, faculty, staff, parents and friends from more than 80 countries made gifts totaling a record-breaking $12,268,629.

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Holgerson among professors winning NSF early-career awards

Researchers studying verification of randomized algorithms, police violence worldwide, polymer nanoparticle synthesis and robotics are among the 11 Cornell assistant and associate professors who have recently received National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Awards.Over the next five years, each will receive approximately $400...

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Agrawal co-authors study: Milkweed species proves beneficial for monarch conservation

Researchers have identified a species of milkweed that holds promise for planting on roadsides to improve conservation habitat for migrating monarch butterflies. The study, “Ecology of Asclepias Brachystephana: A Plant for Roadside and Right-of-Way Management,” published online Feb. 1 in the journal Native Plants, describes how researchers...

/news/agrawal-co-authors-study-milkweed-species-proves-beneficial-monarch-conservation

Support Arts & Sciences on Giving Day March 16

Gifts allow the College to fulfill its mission: preparing students to do the greatest good in the world.

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Flecker co-leads project: AI enables strategic hydropower planning across Amazon basin

Biologist Alexander Flecker approached computer scientist Carla Gomes a few years ago with an ambitious proposal: Harness AI and other tools, in collaboration with a diverse group of Amazon river basin experts, to understand how to meet hydropower needs with the least amount of environmental damage.The idea was to start with the many proposed...

/news/flecker-co-leads-project-ai-enables-strategic-hydropower-planning-across-amazon-basin

Look who’s talking now: the fishes

A new study from Cornell University finds that fish are far more likely to communicate with sound than previously thought — and some fish have been doing this for at least 155 million years.

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James Larison ’70, PhD ’01, Reflects on his Career as a Nature Filmmaker

In a new memoir, the NatGeo veteran recalls globe-trotting adventures—and warns of climate change.

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Reed reports: The origins of newness, revealed in a butterfly wing

Birds have feathers, mammals hair, and angiosperms flowers. Across the diversity of life, many morphological traits are unique to a particular category of organism. How do these unique traits first arise?Most biologists agree that new morphological traits do not come from entirely new genes. Instead, they arise from the co-option and repurposing...

/news/reed-reports-origins-newness-revealed-butterfly-wing

"A brilli-ANT new species" named after Corrie Moreau

A new ant species collected in New Mexico has been named Strumigenys moreauviae, after CALS faculty member Corrie Moreau, the Martha N. and John C. Moser Professor Arthropod Biosystematics and Biodiversity and director of the Cornell University Insect Collection.The species was named after Moreau by Douglas B. Booher, postdoctoral associate in...

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Graduate School recognizes over 40 new NSF GRFP recipients

Arts and Sciences doctoral students David Esparza and Anna Whittemore are among 44 Cornell graduate students selected as new National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP) fellows.

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Nexus Scholars Program applications now open

The program connects undergraduates in A&S with opportunities to work side by side on research with Cornell faculty from across the College.

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Meet our faculty: Ian Owens

Ian Owens, Louis Agassiz Fuertes Director, Cornell Lab of Ornithology; professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyAcademic focus: Large-scale patterns in biodiversity and conservationResearch summary: I study the ecological and evolutionary mechanisms that drive differences between species and ecosystems, and the...

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Prof Searle in house mouse study inferring Norse discovery of the Azores

The history books say the Azores were discovered by Portuguese explorers in 1427. But mouse DNA and lake sediment suggest that the mid-Atlantic archipelago was actually discovered as much as 700 years earlier, by Vikings. In 2015 Jeremy Searle, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, and two co-authors posited, based on mouse...

/news/prof-searle-house-mouse-study-inferring-norse-discovery-azores

Houlton co-authors study: Natural climate protection may be written in stone

When it comes to reducing the impact of climate change, humanity appears caught between a rock and a hard place.But, in this case, the rock may offer a surprisingly softer landing.The rocky surface of our planet’s geology may provide a buffered bumper to absorb excess carbon – that is, if society wants to protect Earth, according to a new paper...

/news/houlton-co-authors-study-natural-climate-protection-may-be-written-stone

Primates’ ancestors may have left trees to survive asteroid

When an asteroid struck 66 million years ago and wiped out dinosaurs not related to birds and three-quarters of life on Earth, early ancestors of primates and marsupials were among the only tree-dwelling (arboreal) mammals that survived, according to a new study.Arboreal species were especially at risk of extinction due to global...

/news/primates-ancestors-may-have-left-trees-survive-asteroid