News | Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology

Professors address climate change from multiple disciplines

The panel, during Reunion 2025, was called "Beyond the Apocalypse: New Narratives and Innovations for Climate Action."

Beth Ryan with big glasses, a smile and a lab coat standing in front of a white board with equations and a lab frame with hoses and things hanging on it

Graduate Student Invited to Prestigious Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting

The Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings bring together Nobel Prize recipients and approx. 600 exceptional young scientists from around the world for a week of “interdisciplinary exchange” aimed at fostering scientific collaboration across generations and national boundaries.

Happy together: Peroxide binds incompatible polymers for recycling

“The dream is, if you can make a really rigid polymer that’s also really tough, then you can make packaging that uses less material, yet has the same sort of properties."

two plank-shapes, one with a stripe and one with a white root shape hover over neon color feather shapes

Moving pictures: Researchers use movies to diagnose EV battery failure

The technique enables them to watch chemistry in action and collect real-time movies showing what happens to energy materials during temperature changes.

Glass figures shaped like a teardrop on top of a square glass base, red with black lines swirling down in parallel

Seventeen Receive Awards Recognizing Inclusive Excellence

Awardees were recognized for the significant impacts they have made to advance access, engagement and belonging through their service and leadership.

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Physicist Brad Ramshaw awarded $2M as Brown Investigator

“This grant will allow us to pursue some high-risk, novel ideas for how to measure material properties like elasticity and high-frequency conductivity that have previously been inaccessible in 2D materials.”

Abruña receives 2025 Dreyfus Prize in the Chemical Sciences

The biennial prize, announced May 15, “recognizes an individual for exceptional and original research in a selected area of chemistry that has advanced the field in a major way.”

Carbon dioxide key to making a precise polymer safely

Cornell chemists have developed a user-friendly, scalable process for methacrylate that’s precisely controlled and mediated by carbon dioxide.

crystal ball reflects a view of a river, upside down

In a first, system uses sunlight to power carbon capture

Inspired by the mechanisms plants use to store carbon, researchers found that sunlight can power the capture and release of carbon dioxide, which could vastly lower costs and net emissions.

'I’ve been able to serve Guam from my college dorm room'

Ethan Gumataotao is majoring in chemistry and chemical biology.

'I've worked on research projects in both organic and inorganic synthesis'

Aria Mingo is majoring in chemistry & chemical biology.

'Joining a lab confirmed my passion for cancer research'

Caitlyn Sams is majoring in biological sciences and chemistry & chemical biology.

Several people standing in three rows, wearing dark blue shirts

Hundreds of grad student volunteers host conference for budding scientists

Over 300 graduate students came together to offer this year’s annual Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) conference, putting in countless hours of volunteer work to host middle and high school students from across the state for a day of hands-on learning experiences on April 5.

Light bulb decorated to show Earth's continents

Cornell Energy Summit considers global energy needs

The 2025 Cornell Energy Summit: “The Energy Landscape: Meeting Global Needs in the Age of Sustainability” will be held on April 30, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Statler Hotel Ballroom.

First Guerlac Lecture to celebrate ‘rock star’ science historian

Princeton history professor Michael Gordin will give the inaugural lecture celebrating the life and work of Henry Guerlac ’32, M.S. ’33, an influential historian of science and Cornell faculty member for three decades.

Graduate student Elizabeth Ryan selected to attend Lindau Nobel Laureate meeting

A Chemistry and Chemical Biology graduate student in the Weill Institute’s Baskin Lab, Ryan will be among 600 young scientists from around the world to come together in Lindau, Germany.

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Putting the brakes on bacterial mobility: A new approach to fighting disease

Researchers have identified a new way to fight infections like Lyme disease and syphilis by disrupting the bacteria’s ‘motor,’ preventing it from spreading through the body.

Drug found ‘remarkably’ effective in treating common canine oral cancer

An FDA-approved drug used in humans has been found to inhibit the growth of oral squamous cell carcinomas in dogs - with one dog’s tumor nearly disappearing in a matter of weeks.

Plastic items in many colors crushed together and wrapped for recycling

Reducing plastic’s environmental impact with machine learning

Chemistry researchers have found ways to reduce the environmental impact of high-density polyethylene by developing a model that enables manufacturers to customize and improve those materials.

Two people cutting a red ribbon ceremonially. They are outdoors

First Level 3 EV fast-charging station opens on campus

The station will serve as part of a real-world “living laboratory” for existing and emerging electric-vehicle technologies developed at Cornell and elsewhere.

Chemist Robert Fay, emeritus professor, dies at 88

Robert C. Fay, emeritus professor of chemistry and chemical biology in the College of Arts and Sciences, died Feb. 6 in Fairfax, Virginia. He was 88.

Solar solutions: Bio-inspired approach creates bespoke photovoltaics

What if photovoltaic panels were a hinged, lightweight fabric that was aesthetically attractive and could wrap around complex shapes to better absorb sunlight?

Brian Crane named director of the Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology

Brian Crane began as Director of the Weill Center for Cell and Molecular Biology on January 1, 2025. He is only the second Director in the History of the Weill Institute since its founding by inaugural Director Scott Emr in 2008.

Protein shuttling mechanism helps bacteria pump out antibiotics

A Cornell-led collaboration uncovered the equipment that enables bacteria to survive exposure to antibiotics: a shuttling mechanism that helps a complex of proteins pump out a wide spectrum of antibiotics from the cell.

Three people wearing lab safety glasses look at a small scientific device

Solar solutions: ‘Crazy’ perovskite offers sustainable alternative to silicon

Cornell researchers are studying how the material can be recycled and grown to be more durable.

X-ray study sheds light on cost-effective fuel cell materials

Cornell researchers have captured an unprecedented, real-time view of how a promising catalyst material transforms during operation, providing new insights that could lead to replacement of expensive precious metals in clean-energy technologies.

Illustration of a light bulb against a yellow, blue and red background

These alums are so inventive, they're in the hall of fame!

Cornellians are a creative bunch—and like Ezra himself, many have used their know-how and initiative to make a difference.

Benjamin Widom, influential physical chemist, dies at 97

Benjamin Widom, Ph.D. ’53, Goldwin Smith Professor Emeritus in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology in the College of Arts and Sciences, died Jan. 23 in Ithaca. He was 97.

Orange red and white horizontal streaks of light under a dark blue sky, showing automobile traffic in motion at night

New Klarman Fellows to join the College of Arts and Sciences

Fellows will pursue research in the sciences, social sciences and humanities.

Durable plastic gets a sustainability makeover

A Cornell chemist has created an alternative to the unrecyclable, plastic-based material used for durable items such as car tires, replacement hip joints and bowling balls.

Tranparent flasks in a chemistry lab, with amounts of orange liquid

How a pervasive microorganism generates a greenhouse gas

Cornell researchers have discovered a way for ammonia oxidizing archaea, one of the most abundant types of microorganisms on Earth, to produce nitrous oxide, a potent and long-lasting greenhouse gas.

large brick building with smoke stacks reaching into a blue sky studded with clouds

What you need to know about carbon capture, utilization and storage

Cornell researchers Greeshma Gadikota, Phil Milner and Tobias Hanrath discuss their carbon capture research, including a new experimental CAPTURE-Lab at Cornell’s Combined Heat and Power Plant.

A microscope image: Dark green background spotted with pink

Diet, microbes: new pathway controlling levels of body fat, cholesterol

Beneficial gut microbes and the body work together to fine-tune fat metabolism and cholesterol levels, according to a new preclinical study by investigators from Weill Cornell Medicine and the Boyce Thompson Institute at Cornell’s Ithaca campus.

Light-activated micro device expands ‘green’ electrochemistry

Cornell chemists and nanofabrication experts have joined forces to create a 2 millimeter-wide, wireless, light-activated device to simplify electrochemistry for broad use.

Two people work on a very large piece of equipment that's blue and holds a lot of water

2030 Project Fast Grant awards support energy systems of the future

Researchers from five colleges, including Arts and Sciences, have received awards to support work on sustainable energy systems.

Chemist Héctor D. Abruña wins Enrico Fermi Award

The award recognizes scientists, engineers and science policymakers who have given unstintingly over their careers to advance energy science and technology.

Double helix strands made out of tiny blue beads against a dark blue background

New pathway found for regulating zinc in E. coli

Cornell researchers have discovered a pathway by which E. coli regulates zinc levels, an insight that could advance the understanding of metal regulation in bacteria and lead to antibacterial applications such as in medical instruments.

A glass vial sits in a patch of sunlight on a square tiled floor, with shadow around it.

Using sunlight to recycle black plastics: Researchers leverage additive to make materials chemically useful

The researchers say that their method could create a closed-loop recycling process for this type of plastic.

Portrait image of Christopher Diaz — Recent Cornell Chem grad Christopher Diaz (class of 2020)

Cornell Chem Young Alumni Spotlight - Christopher Diaz (Class of 2020)

We caught up with recent Cornell Chem graduate Christopher Diaz (Class of 2020) to find out what they're up to now, and to ask their advice on a few important topics.

Postdoc spotlight: Alexandra Easley

Alexandra Easley is a postdoc in the department of chemistry and chemical biology; her research focuses on new approaches to carbon dioxide capture.

Five people standing in a line under a tree

Five postdocs honored with achievement awards

The Postdoc Achievement Awards recognize individuals who have made contributions to community and show commitment to promoting inclusion at Cornell and in society.

Vaccine pioneer to give Racker Lecture Oct. 3

Peter Kim ’79 will explore how vaccines work and provide an overview of some of the most influential vaccines in history.

Cornell's central campus with lake beyond

Cornell, partners to make upstate NY a regional engine for better batteries

With funding from the National Science Foundation, Cornell and a group of institutional partners have created the Upstate New York Energy Storage Engine to advance energy storage technology and boost large-capacity battery manufacturing in the region.