CSS UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM

About the CSS Undergraduate Program

The Department of Crop and Soil Sciences has 25 faculty members and offers a wide variety of undergraduate-level courses. The department is housed in Bradfield Hall, a high-rise teaching and research facility. The department manages soil and crop research farms around the state of New York, including some facilities that are convenient to campus for use as outdoor teaching laboratories.

Our Students

Our students come from many backgrounds, including those who start with little practical environmental or agricultural experience. They have in common a keen interest in applying science for the purpose of finding practical solutions to problems affecting our world. Some become research scientists helping to advance the knowledge of natural processes. Others apply their science in more practical ways to help people better manage our soil, water, and food production resources. All of them utilize the exceptional resources of Cornell to explore their own interests and to tailor a curriculum that fits their own personal goals.

At the Center

Agriculture -- and humanity's need to sustain food production and retain environmental integrity -- is at the center of the growing concern about humanity's future. At the center of agriculture are the soil, water, and biological resources that link the environment with human society. Through these resources, humanity changes and is changed by the earth's ecosystem. Perhaps the greatest challenge for our undergraduate students will be meeting these interrelated human and environmental needs. Training in our department will prepare you to help solve these problems. Our students learn the physical and biological science that should be raised in the context of larger social debates regarding agriculture, environment, conservation, and sustainability. They develop the special career skills that prepare them to work on the technological aspects of solving these important problems.