The mission of the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences is to promote interdisciplinary scholarship supporting food systems, agriculture, and natural resources. 

CFANS plays a lead role in keeping Minnesota competitive and connected as challenges and discoveries abound in genomics, plant and animal biology, the relationship of food to health, the inter-relatedness of ecosystems, renewable energy, the promise of biocatalysis and bioinformatics, and the economic, communication, and policy issues associated with these discoveries. 

As the College most closely connected with the University’s historical roots as a land grant institution, our programs revitalize the University’s core mission and support the University’s “top three” goal through interdisciplinary and aligned research efforts and a systems approach to complex problems.  Furthermore, our proximity to public agency offices provides a unique outreach role: providing solid scientific support for policy decisions.

Priority Themes

Strategic Goals

• Position the University to develop viable food and agricultural systems for the 21st Century.
  
  
• Position the University as the national center of excellence in research related to energy and products from renewable resources.
  
  
• Position the University to address fundamental issues related to global climate and environmental change.
  
  
• Develop capacity for collaborative, interdisciplinary research and training laboratories in support of graduate and undergraduate students.