Rice crops growing in a growth chamber.

Biological & Environmental Engineering

We bring life to engineering

Our unique focus to design and develop processes, products and systems using basic biological, environmental science and engineering tools generates solutions to societal problems involving water, food, energy and public health. Students increasingly need to participate in problem-solving across traditional boundaries. Rapid technological changes are an added challenge, with implications driven by diminishing resources and a growing population. We aim to enable our students to drive innovation as our discipline continues to be transformed by our changing world.

About our department

Welcome to the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering (BEE) in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Our department is one of the largest of its kind in the country, with a very diverse faculty, staff and student population. We serve three integrated functions: teaching the next generation of undergraduate and graduate students, research on problems in biology and the environment, and public outreach to help society implement new knowledge.

Faculty and students conversing in a lab.
Minglin Ma, associate professor of biological and environmental engineering, working with students in his lab. Credit: Allison Usavage

Explore BEE

Undergraduate research

Improving therapeutics for Type 1 diabetes

Gaby Markle ’26 was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 4 years old. Working with Cornell CALS biological and environmental engineering professor Minglin Ma, Gaby is researching potential treatments using synthetic biology.

Discover synthetic biology at CALS
Play CALS Undergraduate Research Experience: Gaby Markle ’26

News

A blue gloves hand holding a beaker of chemicals.

News

Potential microbes and genes that impact forever chemicals identified

A study identifies microbes that potentially play important roles in breaking down harmful PFAS chemicals and points to functional genes that may be involved.

  • Biological and Environmental Engineering
  • Planet
  • Microbiology
A fox jumps headfirst into snow.

News

Long snouts protect foxes when ‘mousing’ headfirst in snow

When hunting for mice in winter, red and artic fox are known to plunge headfirst into snow but their sharp noses reduce the impact force and protect them from injury, according to a new study.

  • Biological and Environmental Engineering
  • Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
  • Animals
White text on a blue background that reads "SUNY Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence."

News

Nine students receive SUNY Chancellor’s Awards

Nine students and recent graduates representing Cornell’s four contract colleges were selected to receive the 2024 State University of New York Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence. 

  • Biological and Environmental Engineering
  • Landscape Architecture
  • Environment
Explore more news