Its official mission is to "develop, advance, and disseminate scientific knowledge, improve agricultural productivity and environmental quality, protect plants, and enhance human health and well-being through research for the benefit of Connecticut residents and the nation.

[9] The main campus in New Haven currently houses the activities of six departments: Analytical Chemistry, Biochemistry and Genetics, Entomology, Environmental Sciences, Forestry and Horticulture and Plant Pathology and Ecology.

[10] The founding department of the Station, Analytical Chemistry began its work in 1875 testing fertilizer and later seeds, animal feed, human foods, drugs, and pesticides.

Work has also been conducted in collaboration with Biochemistry and Genetics as well as colleagues from the Valley Laboratory to investigate which seed crops are best suited for the production of biodiesel in Connecticut.

[13] Furthermore, the department helps protect honeybee colonies by developing early-detection tests for American Foulbrood(AFB) disease, and establish protocols to control the causal bacterium.

[15] The department also conducts research on the biology and control of exotic insects, including the invasive Asian long-horned beetle and emerald ash borer, looking at the chemistry of tree selection and mating behavior.

[12] The Entomology department supports agricultural production in Connecticut with integrated pest management (IPM) efforts, helping reduce pesticide use.

Researchers have also undertaken an effort to map the distribution of invasive aquatic plants within the state and investigate methods to control their growth and spread.

Scientists are also conducting research on Phytoremediation, which focuses on the ability of certain cucurbit species to remove persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as PCBs and DDT from soil.

[17] New crops suited to Connecticut (such as Chinese cabbage, calabaza, and heirloom tomatoes[13] as well as cultivars of wine grapes and different viticulture methods are being investigated.

Scientists have also studied white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) behavior in hopes of keeping these animals away from highways to prevent vehicle-deer collisions, and to reduce damage to tree saplings, crops, and gardens.

[18] Current research includes investigating the use of nanoparticles of metal oxides on plant diseases, deciphering the role of soil protists in crop health, investigating the genetic structure in natural populations of a fungus causing perennial cankers of birch, understanding the genetics of pathogenic bacteria, and protecting CT vineyards from new viral pathogens.

[12] The department also runs a full service Plant Diagnostic Information Office and serves as the official seed testing laboratory for the state of Connecticut.

During the mid-twentieth century, James G. Horsfall (former Station Director) used the farm to test organically-derived fungicides as a replacement for the heavy metals used to treat plant diseases at the time.

Transferred from the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in 2008, current activities on the property include studies of cold-hardy grape vine varieties, the cultivation of rapeseed for biofuel production and the biocontrol of soil nematodes.

During their feeding trials, they noticed that young rats fed diets with sufficient carbohydrate (in the form of wheat flour) and purified protein, but with vegetable fats or lard instead of butter grew and developed normally for around eighty days, then suddenly began to decline in health and weight then soon died.

Much work is being done in an effort to discover an isolate this substance.”[23] As it turns out, this substance was Vitamin A. Concurrently with Osborne and Mendel, Elmer V. McCollum (a former student of Osborne) and Marguerite Davis at the University of Wisconsin were obtaining similar results, and although the scientists submitted their report for publication several weeks prior to the Station scientists, it is clear that both parties discovered vitamins independently.

[20] In the early 20th century, Station scientists Edward M. East and Herbert K. Hayes began attempts to improve the quality and yield of corn (Zea mays) through selective breeding and hybridization.

In 1906, East realized that steps to prevent self- and close-fertilization made it easier to select for desirable traits (such as large ear size) when breeding.

Jones published his double-cross method in 1919, and began actively promoting the technique as a means to improve corn production nationally: “it is something that may easily be taken up by seedsmen; in fact, it is the first time in agricultural history that a seedsman is enabled to gain full benefit from a desirable origination of his own… The utilization of first generation hybrids enables to originator to keep the parental types and give out only the crossed seeds, which are less valuable for continued propagation.”[20] Because corn is a self-fertilizing plant, the prevention of inbreeding when producing hybrid seeds required time-consuming detasseling.

Scientists at the Station were also instrumental in developing antibody tests to identify patients infected with Lyme disease agent as well as other tick-borne illnesses such as human granulocytic erlichiosis and babesiosis.

1913: Thomas B. Osborne, chemist at the Station, and Lafayette B. Mendel of Yale University demonstrate with rat feeding studies that animals require twenty essential amino acids in their diet, and identify a “yellow substance” in butterfat vital for animal growth, which turned out to be Vitamin A 1917: The first hybrid corn using a four-way cross made by geneticist Donald F. Jones.

1994: S. L. Anagnostakis is given the first permit to release a genetically recombinant biocontrol agent into a Connecticut forest in an attempt to control chestnut blight disease.

2011: Department of Entomology scientists make the first identification of the Emerald Ash Borer in CT 2012: The Plant Disease Information Office scientific staff make the first positive identification of Boxwood Blight in CT 2012: The Department of Analytical Chemistry, in conjunction with the US Food and Drug Administration, tests food from the Democratic and Republican National Conventions for toxins and poisons 2013: Valley Laboratory Scientists are awarded a US Patent on the disease-resistant “Rubicon” strawberry 2014: The Station Board of Control establishes the Louis A. Magnarelli Post-Doctoral Fellowship Program 2015: Opened the renovated and addition to the new Jenkins-Waggoner Laboratory