CFANS is a college devoted to solution-driven science. We study the health of the land and the health of the living. We ensure the safety of the food and water supply. We strive to improve our economy, foster job creation, strengthen our agricultural and natural resource-based industries and enhance the social fabric of communities.  We care about having enough food and worry that some may have too much food. We turn biomass into products including biofuels and many other products society depends upon.  We work with molecules, microbes, plants, and animals in the water, on the land, and in the sky. In doing so, we interact closely with our citizenry. We use critical and innovative thinking plus all the tools of the arts and sciences to make our planet a productive, friendly, and sustainable environment—to solve everyday problems.

And most of all we engage and motivate students of all ages in an exemplary fashion about why understanding basic mechanisms can lead to applied solutions to society’s current and future challenges, many of which are issues of food, agriculture, and natural resources. Solution-Driven Science reinforces and renews our land grant heritage.

We are a large and diverse community with about 1800 undergraduate students, 800 graduate students, 253 faculty, and 800 staff members. We benefit from vital partnerships with the University’s academic health center, institute of public affairs, law school, and business school, as well as government agencies, industry, and nonprofit organizations. This rich context allows our faculty to offer strong, cross-disciplinary studies that provide our students unique opportunities to interact with students, teachers, and community leaders across a wide spectrum of interests related to agriculture and natural resources.

As the College most closely connected with the University’s historical roots as a land grant institution, our programs revitalize the University’s core mission and support the University’s “top three” goal through multidisciplinary, aligned research efforts and a systems approach to complex problems.

If you’ve been away from campus for a number of years or are planning your first visit, I invite you to learn more by exploring this website. If you’re more closely involved with CFANS, thank you very much! I look forward to seeing you at upcoming events and on campus.

Al Levine, Dean
College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences