DEPARTMENT OF PLANT AND SOIL SCIENCES
We have excellent teaching, research, and outreach programs in the areas of plant biology (cellular, genetics, genomics, microbial, molecular and physiology), agronomy (including pathology, soil management and weed science), horticulture (sustainable landscapes, fruits and vegetables), landscape architecture and environmental soil sciences (biogeochemistry, hydrology and plant-soil interactions). We have a distinguished faculty, known nationally and internationally for their research and outreach, and within UD for their excellence in teaching, advising and mentoring students.
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Featured video
Innovation at UD: Harsh Bais: youtube.com/watch?v=ZMsIF6rPcek
University of Delaware inventor Harsh Bais is a plant biologist, known for his research developing a beneficial bacterium that can help boost plant defenses, water retention and more. Here, Bais—who was named an Innovation Ambassador at UD earlier this year—shares some of what he’s learned about invention along the way.
Read the UDaily feature.
Latest news
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Sweeping the Competition
October 09, 2025 | Written by: Nya Wynn | Photos courtesy of: Qingwu MengUndergraduates and graduate students alike from Assistant Professor Qingwu Meng’s lab swept the competition at this year’s American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS) Conference, highlighting UD’s plant and soil sciences program. Their research advances sustainable, efficient crop growth through controlled-environment agriculture. -
Informing landscape decisions
September 18, 2025 | Written by Katie Peikes | Photo by Kathy F. AtkinsonAleena Sabir is a senior studying landscape architecture. Over the summer, she researched campus maintenance related to planting for UD’s grounds crew. She inventoried plants and worked to create a landscape maintenance plan related to species in an area of campus called The Grove. Her work is the start of a landscape maintenance plan that will directly impact campus. -
Student research yields fresh ideas for historic Wilmington burial ground
September 12, 2025 | Article and photo by Beth MillerUD junior Jackson Whitcomb, an honors student and landscape architecture major, focused his summer research project on Riverview Cemetery in Wilmington. In August, he presented findings and suggestions for new trees and other plantings, ideas for walking trails and improved burial aisles, as well as respectful ways to beautify areas.
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