The Graduate School at Cornell University consists of fields rather than departments. The Field of Horticulture mostly overlaps two departments at Cornell - the Department of Horticulture on the Ithaca Campus and the Department of Horticultural Sciences at the Geneva Experimental Station.
This interactive organizational structure allows faculty with similar interests in the different departments to sponsor graduate students in the same field. In addition, some faculty members of other departments such as Plant Biology, Plant Breeding, Crop and Soil Science, etc., may also be members of the graduate field of horticulture.
The Graduate Field of Horticulture consists of two subjects, each with two concentrations:
Horticultural Crop and Landscape Management
- Breeding of Horticultural Crops
- Horticultural Crop Management Systems
Horticultural Biology
- Physiology and Ecology of Horticultural Crops
- Human-Plant Interactions
Although emphasis is on horticultural plants and systems commonly found in areas of temperate climate, graduate study on species and cropping systems of tropical areas is also possible by using our extensive greenhouse and growth chamber facilities, and through thesis research in tropical areas.
In addition to their major field of study, students will select minor field(s) of study from such areas as plant physiology, pathology, anatomy, ecology, biochemistry, botany, entomology, taxonomy, genetics, education, soils, economics, communication, biological and environmental engineering, and landscape architecture. All students are encouraged to gain experience in academic instruction or Cooperative Extension programming.
Graduate students and faculty from the Department of Horticulture at the August 2007 graduate student research review.