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New Cornell certificate centers individual perspective on metabolic health

a collection of food on a table with meat, bean, oil, and vegetables.

Nutrition tips frequently trend online, but some recommendations from social media nutritionists can do more harm than good. Understanding health through research-based approaches helps consumers fight the influence of fads.

Sander Kersten, director of the Division of Nutritional Sciences and the Schleifer Family Professor in Cornell Human Ecology’s Division of Nutritional Sciences, collaborated with eCornell to design the Nutrition for Metabolic Health certificate program, which guides dietitians, health educators and individuals interested in personal wellness toward lifestyle changes that will outlast today’s trends.

“This online nutrition certificate program was designed to provide level, researched information about metabolic health,” Kersten said. “Of course, this could be directly applicable to dietitians and other professionals, but the courses are accessible and informative to everyone.”

The certificate includes three courses: Foundations of Metabolic Health, Assessing the Effects of Obesity and Optimizing Metabolic Health Through Nutrition. Kersten guides participants through an exploration of what defines metabolic health and elaborates on how diet can be leveraged to improve metabolic health. Learners will assess genetic and environmental effects on obesity and identify how diet can improve overall health, even when weight loss is not the main goal.

“Understanding metabolism is essential, but it is important to keep in mind that there are other factors that can make weight management more difficult. People should be aware of the numerous environmental factors that make it more challenging to implement the necessary changes in diet and lifestyle,” Kersten said.

The program offers a research-based examination of the relationship between diet choices, exercise and sustainable health management strategies. Participants learn to evaluate scientific evidence about metabolic processes while developing practical approaches to lifestyle modification.

“Each course emphasizes nutrition principles that can be applied to personal wellness goals or used to support others in their health journeys,” Kersten said. “The program delivers a science-based approach that creates a foundation for lasting metabolic health beyond quick fixes.”

Navigate the nature-nurture balance in metabolic health — learn more in the Nutrition for Metabolic Health certificate program.

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Data science certificate prepares leaders for high-growth field

two hands hover over a table, which is covered in interconnected circuits. Some of the circuits are lit up orange.

With data science employment projected to grow 36% by 2033, professionals across industries are seeking ways to leverage the power of data analysis to drive decision-making. The Data Science Modeling certificate program — developed by Sumanta Basu, an associate professor at Cornell Bowers Computing and Information Science — bridges the gap between basic statistics and advanced data science applications.

The certificate program consists of four comprehensive courses: Nonlinear Regression Models, Modeling Interactions Between Predictors, Foundations of Predictive Modeling and Ensemble Methods. Participants learn to capture complex relationships in data through advanced regression techniques, transform categorical variables into meaningful predictors and build models that adapt to real-world complexities. Through hands-on practice in R programming, professionals develop practical skills in decision trees and random forests to solve challenging prediction problems.

In a recent conversation with eCornell, Basu explained how the program blends statistics and data science.

How do you help students bridge the gap between theoretical concepts and real-world applications?

“We are teaching students these concepts, but in parallel, we are also giving them very real and relevant topical examples that they can apply right away. For example, we use the data set from Tompkins County’s COVID-19 counts. We plot the number of days since the pandemic, the number of new infections and the number of hospitalizations. All of these variables change over time, so the pattern cannot be captured by a single line.

“This example points out how you can use these [non-linear regression] tools to model. And you use the data to predict and understand the evolution of the pandemic. We use a tool called spline or a piecewise polynomial, which is more advanced for capturing nonlinear relationships. This shows the differentiation and how you can use new models or new methods to improve your fit and improve your predictions.”

What’s your approach to teaching students about different types of data and their corresponding models?

“Machine learning models vary depending on the type of data you’re analyzing. The classical machine learning model is for structured data that can be organized in the form of a table. If your data is unstructured, if it’s just text, or if it’s a bunch of images or audio files or video files, then you’ll need more modern tools like deep neural networks. But as long as the data is structured and can be stored in a table format with a bunch of numbers or categories, what we do here, compared to some other courses in the machine learning world, is still state of the art in industry and built based on statistical foundations.

“We have the flexibility to pause and really get students to appreciate what each piece of this complex machinery is doing, in what way they can go wrong, how to understand the limitations and how to explain it to others in simpler terms.”

Turn statistical expertise into data science proficiency — enroll in the Data Science Modeling certificate program today!

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Digital marketing certificate helps hospitality professionals drive customer engagement

Professionals working on documents at a conference room table

As consumers increasingly rely on online resources to make travel and hospitality decisions, businesses must adapt their marketing strategies to meet customers where they are. But what constitutes a successful strategy in an increasingly saturated market?

In the Hospitality Digital Marketing certificate program, associate professor Rob Kwortnik and former clinical professor Bill Carroll — both from the Cornell Nolan School of Hotel Administration — present an approach based on foundational hospitality marketing concepts and principles designed to integrate a company’s brand communications across media channels.

“Today’s hospitality consumers make decisions across multiple digital touchpoints before they ever walk through your door. This program teaches professionals how to create and execute marketing strategies that reach guests with messaging that resonates,” Kwortnik said.

Through a detailed case study of a fictional Baltimore hotel, participants learn to develop comprehensive integrated marketing communications (IMC) strategies that create consistent cross-channel brand experiences. Courses include Marketing Hospitality Brands Through Digital Media, Implementing Brand Strategy Through Digital Media, Communicating the Brand Across Marketing Media and Success Metrics for Hospitality Digital Marketing.

“We guide participants through building a complete IMC strategy for a hotel,” Kwortnik said. “They learn to identify their target market, develop creative strategies and optimize their online presence. These are skills they can immediately apply to their own properties.”

The coursework covers shaping consumers’ brand beliefs, developing website and search engine marketing strategies and content creation for social media and online communities. Participants also explore the full suite of traditional media, including print, radio, television and public relations. Working with real-world scenarios, professionals learn to adapt to shifting market conditions and evolving media landscapes — and they understand how to measure the success of their IMC activities.

“The hospitality industry’s future belongs to professionals who understand how to connect with guests in meaningful ways through digital marketing,” Kwortnik said. “This program prepares leaders to shape that future while staying true to the fundamentals of hospitality excellence.”

Year-long, free access to the Hospitality and Marketing Symposia are available as part of the program. The sessions enable learners to engage in real-time conversations on essential hospitality industry topics and trends with professional peers and experts from the Cornell community and beyond.

Learn to lead digital evolution in hospitality marketing. Enroll in Cornell’s Hospitality Digital Marketing certificate program.

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Professionals sharpen business, legal communication in certificate program

Two peoples' hands over a paper, marking up a document

Whether drafting a critical email or examining a business issue, professionals in every role need strong analytical and persuasive communication skills. Cornell’s Legal Writing and Communication certificate program strengthens essential legal writing skills for leaders across industries.

According to the program’s faculty author Michelle Whelan, a clinical professor of law and associate dean for diversity, equity and inclusion at Cornell Law School, every written word can carry legal implications.

“Whether you are an employee or CEO, you need to understand all the myriad ways you could be interacting, directly or indirectly, with an attorney,” Whelan said. “Even if you don’t interact regularly with legal counsel, you need to appreciate how this can connect with your work and how your life intersects.”

The program includes four courses: Maximizing Your Value in the Attorney-Client Relationship, Evaluating the Impact of Legal Documents, Composing Documents That Help Lawyers and Writing and Persuading Like a Lawyer.

Whelan charts the ways in which a company’s employees could come to the attention of the company’s attorney. Learners explore how to maximize value in an attorney-client relationship through proper communication and how documentation — including emails and other written communication — can help or hurt during litigation.

Participants explore best practices for building relationships with organizational legal teams, techniques for effective witness interviewing and workplace incident reporting and common misconceptions about business documentation.

“There’s a lot of talk about ‘don’t create this document’ or ‘don’t put everything down in writing.’ But for a company to function, they need documents for institutional memory, and that’s just how they function,” Whelan said. “The program helps employees understand how to create documents that are useful and not harmful.”

“What are the things that you should be looking for that are helpful for the company and the company’s attorney? The program walks through how to effectively gather information from a witness and then it turns to putting that down on paper,” she said.

While these skills are necessary for legal issues, focused expertise in these areas can help professionals excel in any field. As persuasive communication is the core of the program, Whelan emphasizes how impactful the courses can be for anyone in business.

“Persuasion is everywhere you look, no matter what you do, no matter what your role is, and this program teaches students that they’ve been using persuasion all their lives. It’s easy then to transfer some of those concepts, skills and knowledge into a persuasive document that objectively analyzes an issue using the four-step analysis that every good lawyer runs through to analyze an issue to come up with a solid, sound conclusion that’s backed by solid reasoning. And then, once you have that, you can turn it into a document that convinces or persuades.”

Whelan notes that it is important for professionals to think beyond what their business does with an attorney. “There are also specific ways that an employee interacts with an attorney, such as being asked to serve as a witness on behalf of the corporation,” she said. “One day, everybody out there could be asked to do that.”

Build your confidence in persuasive business and legal communication — enroll in the Legal Writing and Communication certificate program today!

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3 ways to protect honeybees — as keepers and community members

A honeybee sits on top of four rows of honey combs.

In 2023, the United States  lost 48% of its agriculturally managed honey bee colonies in an unprecedented year. But the issue is more complex than the statistics can communicate.

In a Cornell Keynote from eCornell, Marina Caillaud, a lecturer of entomology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), explains honey bee decline — which is tracked in data from the United States Department of Agriculture — and shares how experts and individuals can help with honey bee conservation. Caillaud and the Cornell Dyce Lab for Honey Bee Studies, housed in CALS, offer three ways we can protect and maintain bee populations.

1. Plan for your environment.

For beekeepers, the health of the hive is key, and the environment is a major factor. Many of the health challenges bees face come from the environment: pesticides, stress, droughts or poor nutrition. Before starting your own beehive, you must understand your own local weather conditions as well as the risks that come with them. If you live in drier conditions, be sure to prioritize water sources for your bees.

Further, the location of your beehive is essential to its success, so be sure to pick a location with plenty of sunlight and protection from the wind. Ensure that nectar or pollen is within 500 feet of the hive. Even though honey bees can travel three miles to forage for food, closer sources optimize energy conservation and honey production.

2. Understand the complex global status of honey bees

While honeybees are at the center of pollination for ecosystems and agriculture, the bee population is not a monolith. There are over 4,000 species of bees in the U.S., all of which have different needs. Sometimes, honey bee cultivation can put other pollinators at risk, especially when the hives increase competition for resources, increase the spread of diseases, and alter the natural habitat. As a result, it is important to ensure that your honey bee cultivation does not harm these other important subsections of our ecosystem. Provide adequate food and water, ensure your tools are clean so they don’t infect your hives or others and maintain the integrity of the natural landscape around your hive.

3. Collaborate with your community.

Even if you are not planning to keep honey bees, it is still important to keep your space friendly for visiting bees. To counteract the threats of habitat loss and pesticides, individuals can make improvements to their lawns. 

The easiest step is to remove pesticides. While helpful to combat weeds, these chemicals are toxic to bees and can run off into neighboring waterways. The next step is to include plants that support pollination for most of the year. Bees love bright-colored flowers — especially purple, blue, white and violet — so you can do this while still maintaining a beautiful garden. To start, research native species in your area that specialize in pollen production. Then diversify your selections. Choose a few that are perennial and annual, so bees can continuously trust your area for pollination.

Seize opportunities to learn new beekeeping skills.

Faculty from Cornell University have designed online beekeeping certificate programs to guide you through your beekeeping practice. A five-week course from the Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is also available online through eCornell.

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Certificate program primes professionals for risk analysis in business

Computer mainframe lit up by blue light. Small dots of red and yellow punctuate the rest of the mainframe with several computer chips.

Every company and venture comes with risk. In eCornell’s Risk Analysis certificate program, developed by Linda Nozick, director of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Cornell, professionals learn how individuals and businesses can avoid, mitigate, share and diversify risks. The certificate includes four key modules: risk analysis foundations, risk evaluations, risk modeling and risk perception.

In a recent conversation with eCornell, Nozick discussed how the program charts out risk in a quantitative and statistically focused manner.

How do we quantify risk?

“Measuring risk is actually really difficult. It is one thing to say: Something’s risky. But once you have to ask ‘how risky,’ you have this question of how to put that risk in context with other risks. And we can talk about this really in an interesting way, when we think about valuing human life or how we handle risk in the public sphere. We make very different decisions about investment for risk mitigation on the highway system than we do in a nuclear power plant. You see the massive difference in funding. We try to illustrate that by looking at specific application domains and statistics with understanding that probability distribution. How likely is an outcome and how bad is it?”

What is risk perception and how does risk attitude affect decision making?

“Risk has a lot to do with how people interpret things, and we don’t interpret them all the same way. And so I think it’s important in the risk space to kind of understand how your perceptions, your attitudes toward risk make you more vulnerable to risks or help you mitigate risks. Somebody who’s really risk prone doesn’t worry so much about risk, and they take more risks than their company would like them to. You are trying to understand how risk attitudes affect decision making. Attitudes actually do drive how you make choices . . . that’s really what this whole thing is about: How does your mental headspace impact your decision making when it comes to risk?”

Is this course content constrained to risk professionals?

“Not at all. This course really is agnostic with respect to the application domain. We talk about financial risk. We talk about health risks. We talk about all sorts of risks. There really is that opportunity to see the applications across different types of business professionals and roles and industries, which could really give folks interesting perspectives and a lot of fundamentals as they’re changing careers or moving up in their career.”

Equip yourself with the tools to identify risks and apply strategies that protect you and your hard work — no matter your industry — in eCornell’s Risk Analysis certificate program. Learn more and enroll now.

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Leaders examine global economic risks in International Business Law certificate program

Gavel in foreground, world map in background.

From repeat wholesale international transactions to the one-time hire of a consultant abroad, companies of all sizes must now understand the liabilities they might take on during global business operations. Celia Bigoness, a clinical professor at the Cornell Law School and director of the Blassberg-Rice Center for Entrepreneurship Law, developed eCornell’s International Business Law certificate to help professionals understand and mitigate business risks. Bigoness recently discussed her online certificate with the eCornell team.

Why would a ‘domestic business’ need an understanding of international law?

“We tried to make sure that this course would be relevant for a whole variety of companies and individuals, including many who may not think they are necessarily involved in cross-border transactions. So, for example, there’s a module on dealing with tariffs — you could be in a company that thinks that what they do is purely domestic, but the [company] may import products or be looking to import products in the future. There could be cost implications there, and they [need to] understand how to deal with tariffs.”

What tools can businesses use to protect themselves from liability?

“Professionals should be able to look at a particular business strategy or a particular question or set of facts and be able to identify the red flags there, to be able to ask: How is [hiring a consultant in Venezuela] different from hiring a consultant in New York state? What are the risks that a business takes on when it is operating outside of its home environment? And how can that business begin to identify those risks, prioritize them and figure out which risks are acceptable and which risks are not. And then, as a practical matter, once you’ve said the risks are not acceptable, ask ‘what do we do about it?’ That’s where we get into a specific sort of contract techniques and other ways outside of a contract in which a business can protect itself. For example, getting insurance against a specific foreign risk.”

How does the course respond to an evolving geopolitical world?

“We rely heavily on a case study method … and we focus particularly on political risks. What if you are doing business in a country that has a change in leadership which is hostile to working with Americans, or, more broadly, more hostile to working with foreign investors. [The government] may decide that it wants to take action against foreign investors, and that action could be everything ranging from expropriation at the most extreme level to something that is much more common, such as raising taxes or saying you can no longer send American workers. What do you do? What rights do you have as a U.S. business when a foreign government seeks to put pressure on you?

Gain the tools to understand your business’ place in the increasingly globalized world in the International Business Law certificate program from Cornell. Learn more and enroll now.

Quotes have been edited for length and clarity.

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Professionals apply techniques for digital transformation in AI certificate program

AI has broadened how companies integrate technology and digital transformation into their operations. For Karan Girotra, the Charles H. Dyson Family Professor of Management in the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, AI prompts questions about a new wave of automation..

The AI for Digital Transformation certificate program, authored by Girotra, combines academic theory and practical executive experience in business and technology into one seamless journey through the new opportunities and potential pitfalls that AI brings. Girotra explains how businesses can utilize these new tools for success through data collection and experimentation. The program concludes with tips for encouraging a culture of learning and leadership through AI.

Girotra discussed the power of data-driven AI enhancements and digital transformation in a recent conversation with eCornell.

How essential is learning AI for professional development right now?

“That really comes down to the question: How is the world going to change [from this breakthrough]? We’ve seen from previous generations of automation that when we automate physical work, the new efficiency forms a pattern. This time, the automation of cognitive language work allows us to benefit in certain ways, including increasing productivity of individuals and organizations. People who don’t work on implementing these ideas risk being left behind and won’t reap the benefits of automation.”

How have you worked to make digital transformation, specifically with AI, accessible for a general audience?

“The program is not basic in ambition, but it is basic in style. The technical language is minimized, and [the courses] do not use jargon. In fact, there is a whole module that I call ‘Cut through the techno babble.’ So it’s designed to be extremely accessible.”

With AI constantly evolving, does this course have longevity in its application?

“Right now, there are so many hyper-specific courses in the AI boom. You have marketing with AI or trading with AI or one of a million other subspecialties. The problem with specific versions is that they change and lose their value with [any procedural innovation]. But if you learn AI more generally – what it can do for any role – then you can invent new ways to use it without copying the current ways people are using it. In a way, there’s a trade-off. When you get more narrow, AI becomes more relevant [for current issues], but it becomes less useful as the world changes. With this course, we teach the conceptual knowledge behind AI in digital transformation to let individuals chart their own procedures in a changing environment.”

Keep pace with the rapid advancements in AI and digital technologies in the AI for Digital Transformation certificate program. Learn more and enroll.

Quotes have been edited for clarity.

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Family business owners strategize for longevity in new certificate program

Workers review documents while standing in front of items on a store shelf

For Joseph Astrachan, a co-author of Cornell’s Family Business Leadership online certificate program, a family-run business is a generational tradition. Since Astrachan was young, his family has operated businesses in fields ranging from pharmaceuticals to shipping. He is no stranger to the difficulties that come with owning a company tied to the fabric of a family, including managing close relationships in the face of business challenges.

With Daniel Van Der Vliet, executive director of the Smith Family Business Initiative within the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, John Engels, president and CEO of Leadership Coaching Inc. and Holly Isdale ‘86, founder of WealthHaven, Astrachan has blended academic theory and industry practice in a certificate program that helps others navigate the obstacles and opportunities of running a family business successfully.

“There is no way around it: Navigating a family business is distinctly different from the traditional corporate model,” said Astrachan, a Professor Emeritus and former executive director of the Cox Family Enterprise Center at Kennesaw State University’s Coles College of Business.

The certificate program uses a hands-on approach to address how the personal and professional overlap in family businesses. Courses include:

  • Family Business Leadership Fundamentals
  • Managing Family Relationships
  • Stewarding Family Wealth and Values
  • Implementing Family Governance Systems

Just like with any other business, management in a family-run venture evolves over time. For family businesses, there is often an added layer of grief associated with leadership changes. Sometimes assumed agreements and familial relationships complicate these transitions.

“Continuing a family-run business requires perpetuation through transition, passing it from one generation to the next,” Van Der Vliet said in a recent conversation with eCornell. “Even though all business begins with family . . . some of this expertise around family business does not exist in academia. Family business is very specialized.”

To help learners understand the nuances, the Family Business Leadership program combines advisory parties – like lawyers and accountants – and family members into one cohesive group of learners. The courses organize behaviors in family businesses into familiar workplace relationships and help make sense of common patterned dynamics. Learners gain practical insights they can immediately apply to their own operations.

“Family members are not asked to share anything deeply personal,” Van Der Vliet said. “Their projects could become more personal if they choose, which can be beneficial for their takeaways from the course… and for those that are not family members in the family business, on the advisory or service side, they can have an opportunity to realize [how family dynamics] broadly affect the company.”

Discover how to manage relationships, steward wealth and implement governance structures in Cornell’s Family Business Leadership certificate program. Learn more and enroll now.

Quotes have been edited for clarity.

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Leaders strategize for new corporate environment in Hybrid Work Strategy certificate

Woman sits in an office set up. In front of her, there is a meeting on her monitor with six people displayed.

Since 2020, organizations all over the world have shifted to hybrid work models. This change has forced leaders to reevaluate how remote collaborative processes can still drive organizational culture. Brad Bell , Donna Haeger and Theomary Karamanis , faculty authors of Cornell’s Hybrid Work Strategy Program, spoke to the eCornell team about the challenges and opportunities posed by hybrid work.

Is it possible to replicate an in-person environment in a virtual workspace?

Theomary Karamanis, Senior Lecturer, SC Johnson College of Business: “That’s the biggest mistake that organizations make: They feel that they need to simulate everything that happens organically in an in-person environment into a virtual environment, and you cannot do that. Instead, try to have less live meetings, less synchronous communication and a bit more asynchronous [work]. Live meetings should usually be limited to problem solving, creativity and conflict resolution.”

How does the hybrid work environment affect the leadership structure of an organization?

Brad Bell, Professor, ILR School: “In these semi-remote environments, leaders can’t be as hands-on, they can’t see everything that’s happening, so a lot of the leadership has to be assumed by the team members themselves in these hybrid and remote settings. This opens a gap [inside the organization’s leadership structure]. Someone that is not a leader might look at courses like [Hybrid Work Strategy] and assume they need to be in a management role to benefit from this. But without usual in-office interaction, those concepts and tools have become importantly applicable to both the leaders and the members.”

What can leaders do to ensure that their hybrid organizations are consistently productive?

Donna Haeger, Professor of Practice, SC Johnson College of Business: “Oftentimes at work, whether it’s hybrid or not, everyone’s focused on ‘task, task, task’, ‘get the work done.’ That’s become even more of a pressure because things do become disjointed when people are not colocated . . . An organization’s culture and productivity are tied together. Tasks and relationships, and the synergy between those, are what really create productivity. [Fostering that synergy] is really essential in a hybrid work environment: The research has shown that the stronger the culture, the more productive the workplace will be.”

Begin developing your confidence as a hybrid team leader with eCornell’s Hybrid Work Strategy certificate program. Learn more and enroll now.

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Justin Heitzman, an eCornell writing intern, contributed to this post.