Ellie Rice

2003 - 2004 CSIP Fellow

Research Interest:
Crop and Soil Science

I am excited to be returning to CSIP as a second-year fellow. This year I plan to formalize the food plant based curriculum I developed last year with CSIP teachers, hopefully with the ultimate goal of producing a curriculum book. The activities use food plants, in particular cucumber plants, corn and tomatoes, to teach genetics, ecology and evolution. My goal this year is to test the curriculum in as many classrooms as possible. I am interested in both longer-term relationships with teachers, as well as short cameos for targeted subject matter. For an example of one of the activities, please see the CSIP website’s curriculum section.

My research focuses on conservation of crops -- particularly corn in Mexico, its center of origin. I use molecular genetic tools to look at the effects of conservation happening in farmer's fields and in genebanks. I am particularly interested in interdisciplinary projects that integrate biological tools into real world problems. Before coming to Cornell for my Ph.D., I worked on a project that looked at the environmental, economic and agricultural effects of nutrient management (fertilizers) in a developing country. Also I worked for CIMMYT, an international organization which specializes in breeding corn and wheat for third world farmers, where I concentrated on economic evaluations of subsistence farming systems and the decisions farmers make when they save seed for the next planting season.