Horticultural Biology (MS)
Graduate School
Graduate Field
Program Description
As the only horticulture program in the Ivy League, our faculty, staff and students work to shape the food systems and landscapes of today and tomorrow.
Our faculty work across New York to make discoveries and share knowledge about fruits, vegetables and landscape plants. Members of the graduate field of horticulture reside in the Section of Horticulture on the Ithaca campus, and at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva. They are called on by farmers, golf course managers, urban foresters, government officials and many others to solve problems around the globe.
If you've ever been shaded by trees on a city street, enjoyed an apple in winter, visited a farmer's market or watched a sporting event on natural grass, then it is likely you have been touched by our work.
The field of Horticulture offers three graduate student degree options: MS, MS/PhD, PhD. For more information please visit the CALS website.
Research Facilities
At the Ithaca campus, research facilities include laboratories equipped for studies of all aspects of plant physiology, including photosynthesis, pre- and postharvest physiology, biochemistry, biotechnology, photobiology, analysis for chemical elements, and tissue culture. Extensive greenhouse and growth chamber facilities permit varying degrees of plant environmental control. Facilities for postharvest research include rooms for refrigerated and controlled atmosphere storage. Field facilities include two research orchards for study of fruit crops, two vegetable research farms, an outdoor nursery, turfgrass research areas, and the Cornell Botanic Gardens, an extensive botanical garden. At the Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, laboratories, greenhouses and growth chamber facilities similar to those in Ithaca are found. In addition, 600 acres of orchards and 200 acres of vegetable experimental farmland are available for research purposes. A wide range of apple, grape, and vegetable germplasm is maintained by the USDA Plant Introduction Station, the National Clonal Repository and the fruit and vegetable breeders. Research is also conducted at the Hudson Valley Lab (fruit research), the Long Island Horticultural Research and Extension Center (grape and vegetable research), and the Fredonia Grape Research Station.
Concentrations
- Breeding of horticultural crops
- Horticultural crop management systems
- Human-plant interactions
- Physiology and ecology of horticultural crops