Science
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Cornell Student Organization Campaigns to Reduce Plastic Waste on Campus
Just inside the entrance to the CALS Zone in Mann Library, between the gray trash can and blue recycling bin, sits an unassuming white bin — one of many that can be found across campus. These bins are part of the Society for Natural Resources Conservation’s TerraCycle initiative. TerraCycle is a private US-based company that helps individuals and organizations recycle items that cannot be recycled through traditional municipal recycling programs, such as plastic packaging and wrappers. As a student organization at Cornell, SNRC takes part in several recycling programs from TerraCycle, aimed at reducing campus waste and providing non-traditional recycling options for students. Among various recycling initiatives, SNRC participates in…
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Revolutionizing the Future of Travel: Max Owens Pursues His Passion for Innovation as the CEO and Founder of MAVRIK
Starting his own self-flying passenger vehicle company at just 15 years old, Max Owens has fully devoted himself to building his business in Long Beach, California. What started out as a passion project quickly transformed into a fully functioning aircraft when his original prototype successfully took flight right before leaving for his freshman year at Cornell in 2022. After receiving an offer of $1.4 million at the start of his junior year in the College of Engineering, Owens realized that keeping up with the pace meant leaving Cornell to pursue MAVRIK. Taking Flight From turning his own room into a maker space to learning how to program at 11 years…
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Paul Sellew ’80 Leads Efforts in Sustainable Hydroponic Agriculture
“It’s a big clock!” said Cornell alumnus and Little Leaf Farms founder and CEO Paul Sellew ’80. Life at Little Leaf Farms is rhythmic, a meticulously controlled environmental system following a precisely timed and executed loop. Sellew started Little Leaf Farms, a hydroponic packaged lettuce farm in Devens, MA, in 2015. Hydroponics refers to the technique of growing plants using a water-based nutrient solution instead of soil. Its greenhouses integrate engineering and plant science to provide a fresh product and solution for soil degradation, food waste and changing climates. Sellew was immersed in the agricultural business from a young age, growing up on his family’s ornamental farm in Connecticut. From…
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Around the Globe and Back: Cornell Professor Approaches Cancer Research with an International Perspective
From Nigeria to England, to Germany to the U.S., Prof. Zeribe Nwosu journeyed around the globe in pursuit of academic experiences that shaped his approach to research, mentorship and outreach. Nwosu is a professor in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics. After completing his undergraduate studies in Nigeria, he earned a master’s degree in biomedical science in England, pursued a Ph.D. at the University of Heidelberg, moved to the University of Michigan for postdoctoral research and finally joined Cornell as a faculty member in 2023. Now, he operates a lab focusing on cancer metabolism. The Nwosu Lab at Cornell focuses on cancer metabolism, which is how cancer cells utilize…
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How Winemakers, Researchers Are Combating Climate Change in the Finger Lakes
The Finger Lakes region is home to around 150 wineries and 11,000 acres of vines, producing around 54,600 tons of grapes each year. Despite the prominence of the wine industry in the Finger Lakes, wine growers in the region have experienced recent difficulty growing their crops. In 2014, the region lost 67 percent of its common grapevine varieties following a late spring frost. Such variable weather patterns — which are intensified by climate change — threaten local grape growers, according to Prof. Justine Vanden Heuvel, horticulture. “Climate change is difficult for wine growers to work with,” Vanden Heuvel said. “The main problem, particularly here in the Northeast, is the climate…
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You’ve Got Chemistry With Your Valentine’s Day Date: The Science of Falling in Love
Picture this: it’s a cold February day in Ithaca, and you’re sitting in a cafe sipping a steaming drink over your homework. By chance, you look up from your problem set and meet the gaze of a cute stranger across the room. Your heart starts beating fast and you experience that all-too-familiar feeling of butterflies in your stomach. As you debate whether to approach this person, your nucleus accumbens — commonly known as the brain’s “reward center” — starts releasing dopamine, the neurotransmitter associated with pleasurable experiences like getting a good grade or eating delicious food, according to Prof. Alex Ophir, psychology. At the same time, the hormones oxytocin —…
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Cornell Researchers Develop New Age Biodegradable Vascular Graft
A team of researchers at Cornell University has developed a new biodegradable vascular graft that could transform the treatment of cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death worldwide. Anova Biomedical co-founders Prof. Yadong Wang, biomedical engineering, and Anthony D’Amato, a postdoctoral associate in biological engineering and the chief executive officer of Anova Biomedical, have developed a metallo-elastomer that mimics the natural elasticity of arteries and veins. This innovation allows Anova to improve the current vascular graft technology, which only applies to vessels larger than five millimeters. “Every year, between end-stage renal disease and cardiovascular diseases, there are millions of people suffering and dying,” D’Amato said. “There isn’t a viable treatment…
- Cornell, Cornell University, cornell university protest, enviroment and sustainability, enviromental protection agency, EO, executive orders, News, On Campus, Plant Science, President Trump, Protest, rally, school for integrated plant science, Science, science is real, science protest, SIPS, Trump administration, Uncategorized
‘Human Need, Not Corporate Greed,’ Cornell SIPS Advocacy Members Urge the Public to Stand Up For Science Amid Recent Executive Orders
About 150 School of Integrative Plant Science students, faculty and supporters assembled outside of Mann Library at 3 p.m. on Thursday. Protestors carried signs demanding access to science for all in the face of recent executive orders and echoed chants for “human need, not corporate greed.” Speakers called for members of the Ithaca community to “stand up for science,” emphasizing the loss of research funding through National Institutes of Health grants and the backpedaling of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at universities under the Trump administration. In response to President Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order on Unleashing American Energy, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently froze funding to the Partnerships…
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‘A Fountain of Research’: Cornell’s Plant Pathology Herbarium Enables Novel Mycology Research
Founded in 1907 by Cornell mycologist former Prof. Herbert H. Whetzel, plant pathology, the Cornell Plant Pathology Herbarium, or CUP, is the fourth largest museum of fungi in North America, home to nearly 400,000 fungal specimens. Mycology, the scientific study of fungi, is a rapidly developing field. According to Teresa Iturriaga, the curator of CUP, only about five percent of the estimated ten million species of fungi have been discovered. Herbaria like CUP are systematically organized collections of preserved plant diseases and fungal specimens that provide mycologists — scientists who study fungi — with resources about plant diseases, biodiversity, climate change and more. CUP primarily serves as a lending library,…
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Cornell Lab of Ornithology Prepares for Project FeederWatch
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is gearing up for Project FeederWatch, an annual project inviting participants in the United States and Canada to observe and report bird species. This year’s season will begin on Nov. 1 and will continue through April 30. During this period, thousands of FeederWatchers across North America will count birds and submit their findings to the FeederWatch database. FeederWatch data is used to understand several different aspects of winter birds, such as climate change impacts and bird distribution, population shifts and diseases. FeederWatchers can even report aspects of bird behavior, such as displacement — when one bird attempts to take the spot of another bird at…