Cornell ExpPonds clipboard1 by Christine Bogdanowicz.

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.

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Research Spotlight

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.

Our Department in the News

Alum still lives in the house Frank Lloyd Wright designed for him

Centenarian Roland Reisley ’46, BA ’45, an A&S physics alum, has resided in the Hudson Valley home for more than seven decades.

artificial intelligence graphic with brain, lights and circuits

Brain’s ‘blue spot’ key to healthy aging, early Alzheimer’s detection

Specialized MRI scans revealed dramatic changes over the human lifespan in the locus coeruleus, a finding that helps characterize healthy aging patterns.

Painting in blues and oranges, showing people standing in lines, wearing medical masks

Conference explores post-Covid-19 global health biopolitics

A conference May 5-7, “The Biopolitics of Global Health After Covid-19,” will combine biopolitical and anthropological inquiry to spark a cross-disciplinary dialogue about (post-) pandemic discourses and practices of global health.

“We are La Voz” event highlights Latine artists

A collaboration between Cornell faculty, students and Ithaca community members is bringing together a monthlong event in downtown Ithaca, focused on Latine artists.

If parents can opt out of LGBTQ themes, can others opt out of traditional ones?

Hearing arguments on whether religious parents should be permitted to opt out their children from public school story time that includes LGBTQ themes, U.S. Supreme Court justices appeared to favor the idea that parents can remove their children from these lessons, which 'prompts reflection on the bo...