Traditionally, plants are seen as providers of oxygen, shade or food; however, they have a variety of functions ranging from protein production to biofuels. Prof. Beth Ahner, biological and environmental engineering, researches a variety of these applications within the field of environmental biotechnology.

During the 1980s, Prof. Monroe Weber-Shirk, civil and environmental engineering, volunteered in Latin American refugee camps. At the time, he was convinced that he would devote the rest of his life to development work in Latin America, but his plans were thwarted by a diagnosis of Hodgkin’s disease and his return to the U.S. for treatment. While pursuing a Ph.D. at Cornell, he placed his aspirations of improving the quality of life in Latin America on the back burner. A few years ago, he received a serendipitous phone call that put into motion an engineering project that would make his decades-long dream come true.