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

News

Two men, in a green and grey jacket, speak with two students.

News

Through community, Indigenous students thrive in STEM

Indigenous students in STEM are creating community and working to increase representation and visibility – all while bringing valuable cultural insights and a community-focus to their academic work.

  • American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program
  • Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
  • Biological and Environmental Engineering
A lit candle infront of a dark background.

News

Gil Levine, champion of international collaboration, dies at 96

Gilbert Levine ’48, Ph.D. ’52, whose 68 years of service to Cornell were devoted to fostering multidisciplinary and international collaboration, died Feb. 5 in Fitchburg, Wisconsin.

  • Biological and Environmental Engineering
An oval bacteria with a tail on a purple background.

News

Low-cost microbe can speed biological discovery

To conduct low-cost and scalable synthetic biological experiments, Cornell researchers have created a new version of a microbe to compete economically with E. coli – a bacteria used to synthesize proteins.

  • Biological and Environmental Engineering
  • Bacteria
  • Synthetic Biology
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