Institution: Cornell University

Rebecca Nelson is a Professor in Cornell University’s School of Integrative Plant Science, and is a member of the fields of Plant Pathology & Plant-Microbe-Biology, Plant Breeding & Genetics, and International Agriculture & Rural Development. She serves as Scientific Director for The McKnight Foundation’s Collaborative Crop Research Program (CCRP). Rebecca serves as Co-Chair of the Thematic Group on Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems for the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), a global initiative for the United Nations, and also serves on the SDSN’s Leadership Council and Executive Committee. Through the CCRP, Rebecca contributes to the support of a portfolio of research projects aimed at improving food security in 12 countries in Africa and Latin America. The CCRP funds research by teams of local and international organizations that generate technical and social innovations furthering agroecological intensification of smallholder agriculture. Her research laboratory, based at Cornell University, collaborates with maize geneticists and breeders at Cornell, in Kenya, and elsewhere. Prior to moving to Cornell in 2001, Rebecca worked at the International Potato Center in Lima, Peru (1996-2001), and at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines (1988-1996). Rebecca holds a B.A. degree from Swarthmore College and a Ph.D. from the University of Washington. A MacArthur Fellow from 1998 through 2003, she has served on the editorial boards of Theoretical and Applied Genetics, Phytopathology, and the International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability.