As Department Chair I am particularly interested in developing departmental preeminence in basic plant biology at a time when progress in basic plant biology research is important to critical societal needs including: the development of strategic responses to the effects of to climatic change in vital areas including biodiversity maintenance and agriculture; the development of biomedicinals, and investigations of plant based energy sources. My immediate goal has been to build strength in various facets of plant molecular biology while complementing these developments with complementary strength in the area of plant systematics including theory and molecular systematics. These emphases will be enhanced by another immediate priority, cultivating the kind of research relationships with other Cornell administrative units that will promote and enhance our research eminence by allowing the Department to enter exciting and important areas of research that would be difficult to engage in in the absence of such collaborations or where synergies derived from these collaborations materially improve the Department’s and University’s positions in these key areas of research.