The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University Welcomes Five Women Faculty Members

Jacqueline Gerson has joined the faculty at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York as an assistant professor in the department of biological and environmental engineering. She most recently served as an assistant professor at Michigan State University. As a watershed biogeochemist and ecosystem ecologist, she researches how humans impact biogeochemical cycling in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Dr. Gerson is a magna cum laude graduate of Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, where she majored in biochemistry with a minor in environmental studies. She holds a master’s degree in environmental engineering science from Syracuse University in New York and a Ph.D. in ecology from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.

Wunpini Mohammed has joined the faculty as an assistant professor in the department of communication. In her research, she focuses on interrogating power in media and communications while working together with disenfranchised communities to use media to bring about transformative change in communities.

Dr. Mohammed earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Ghana in Africa, a master’s degree from Michigan Technological University, and Ph.D. in mass communications from Pennsylvania State University.

Madeline Oravec has joined the faculty as an assistant professor of horticulture in the School of Integrative Plant Science. Her scholarship centers around the genetic understanding and improvement of grapes, with an emphasis on fruit quality, environmental resilience, and biotic resistance. She previously served as a postdoctoral researcher with the University of Minnesota and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Dr. Oravec is a graduate of Cornell University. She received her master’s degree in horticulture from Purdue University in Indiana and her Ph.D. in plant breeding and plant genetics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Claire Wardle has joined the faculty as an associate professor in the department of communication. She is the co-founder of the nonprofit First Draft, as well as the Information Futures Lab at Brown University. Her academic pursuits focus on user-generated content, verification, and misinformation.

Dr. Wardle holds a master’s degree in political science and a Ph.D. in communication from the University of Pennsylvania.

Yun Yang has joined the faculty as an assistant professor of soil and crop sciences in the School of Integrative Plant Science. She previously served as an assistant professor at Mississippi State University and postdoctoral fellow at the USDA-ARS Hydrology and Remote Sensing Lab. Her work focuses on monitoring plant water use. She is focused on understanding the impacts of agricultural practices on water resource sustainability.

Dr. Yang is a graduate of Beijing Normal University in China. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in environmental sciences from the University of Massachusetts.