Bassuk has worked in the Horticulture Department of Cornell University since 1980. In 1993, she became the program leader at the Urban Horticulture Institute. Her teaching, research and extension efforts aspire to enhance the function and health of plants growing in urban and disturbed areas. She helped to develop the Student Weekend Arborist Team (SWAT) to inventory public trees in small communities. Her findings have led to the development of the Woody Plants Database whose focus is on woody plants used for landscaping in the Northeast.
Through her work researching the physiological problems of plants growing in urban environments, she has developed several technologies to improve establishment and health of plants, including development of ‘CU-Structural Soil,’[3] for which she holds a patent with her colleague Jason Grabosky. As the program leader at the Urban Horticulture Institute, she has developed hybrid oak trees to be especially tolerant of urban conditions.[4] She has authored over 100 papers focusing on the physiological problems of plants growing in urban environments. In 2017, she was asked by the National Park Service to evaluate the elm trees planted on the National Mall to ensure their protection and preservation.[5]
Nina serves on the technical advisory committee of the Sustainable Sites Initiative and is on the board of New York State Urban Forestry Council.[6] She retired from Cornell in 2022.[7]
^Trowbridge, Peter J; Bassuk, Nina (2004-01-01). Trees in the urban landscape: site assessment, design, and installation. Hoboken, N.J.: J. Wiley & Sons. ISBN0471392464. OCLC52838419.
^"DR. NINA BASSUK RECEIVES 2015 ARBOR DAY AWARD." States News Service 6 Apr. 2015. Infotrac Newsstand. Web. 7 Mar. 2016.
