Working to understand ecological systems and patterns that drive 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.
Cornell’s Experimental Ponds Facility is a research and teaching resource operated by our department. For over 50 years, a broad range of field and experimental projects have utilized the Ponds facility. Past and ongoing studies provide valuable insights and solutions into a variety of topics including: conservation of migratory birds; and a broadened understanding of nutrient and chemical pathways in aquatic environments. Research teams from EEB's Holgerson and Vitousek Labs are currently using the Ponds facility for their research programs.
EEB's chemical ecologist prof, Andre Kessler, makes an argument for plant intelligence in a recent paper in the journal Plant Signaling and Behavior. Goldenrod can perceive other plants nearby without ever touching them, by sensing far-red light ratios reflected off leaves. When goldenrod is eaten b...
EEB prof and CUMV curator Bemis co-authors study with fellow Cornell researchers: Foxes’ sharp snouts penetrate snow during "mousing" with little resistance, minimizing potential tissue damage during headfirst dives. When mousing in snow, the fox’s long snout also allows it to reach its prey earlier...
EEB's research and teaching resource, The Cornell Museum of Vertebrates (CUMV), one of 18 institutions taking part in the oVert (openVertebrate) Thematic Collection Network project: a venture to digitize vertebrate collections in museums and make them freely available online for anyone to access
Thirty-one graduate students across three colleges, including A&S, have been awarded research grants from the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability.
EEB's Anurag Agrawal, the James A. Perkins Professor of Environmental Studies helps uncover the ways in which human affairs and natural environments are inevitably and inextricably entangled in Nabokov’s imagination. An avid butterfly collector, Nabokov developed theories, recently proven accurate, ...
Global climate models and predictions rely on accurate accounting of greenhouse gas emissions and carbon storage, reports EEB assistant prof Meredith Holgerson. Holgerson and her research team are beginning to quantify the significant effects that both human-made and natural ponds have on the global...