Dr. Chelsea Specht is the Barbara McClintock Professor of Plant Biology and Associate Director for Faculty Development and Engagement in the School of Integrative Plant Science and serves as the elected Associate Dean of Faculty for Cornell University. She is a faculty member in the graduate fields of Plant Biology and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and a faculty fellow of the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future. She is also a member of the L.H. Bailey Hortorium and affiliated with the Cornell University Herbarium.

Since 2017 she has served as the president of the American Society of Plant Taxonomists, Board member and Director for Diversity and Inclusion for the Botanical Society of America, as the inaugural Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion for CALS from July 2019-2022. She is very interested in the role of institutions of higher education and scientific societies as agents of change, and in the role of Biodiversity Science in building a more sustainable future for our people and planet. Dr. Specht is currently the Associate Dean of Faculty, elected by Cornell’s Faculty to support the Faculty Senate and Faculty Governance.