Plant Biology Directory
![]() |
Adaime, Marc-Elie |
Graduate Student -
Plant Biology Development of phylogenetically-informed computer vision methods for fossil pollen recognition and the study of long-term trends in plant evolution Advisor: Surangi W. Punyasena |
![]() |
Ainsworth, Elizabeth "Lisa"
lisa.ainsworth@ars.usda.gov |
USDA ARS
Adjunct Professor - Plant Biology PEEC Plant physiological and molecular responses to global change, photosynthesis and carbohydrate metabolism |
![]() |
Augspurger, Carol
carolaug@illinois.edu |
Professor Emerita - Plant Biology PEEC Phenology of trees and herbs, wind dispersal, seed and seedling ecology of tropical trees, plant-pathogen interactions |
![]() |
Belloso, Natalie |
Graduate Student -
Plant Biology Anthropogenic climate change effects on plants, soil, crops, and microbial communities Advisor: Katy D. Heath |
![]() |
Berenbaum, May
maybe@illinois.edu |
Professor & Head - Entomology
Professor - Plant Biology Swanlund Chair PEEC Interactions between insects and plants, including herbivores and pollinators, and their implications in the organization of natural communities and agroecosystems |
![]() |
Bernacchi, Carl J
carl.bernacchi@ars.usda.gov |
USDA ARS Adjunct Professor - Plant Biology Impacts of climate change on crop physiology, energy fluxes between the atmosphere and plant canopies, carbon sequestration, crop canopy responses to stress |
![]() |
Beuchat, Gabriel |
Graduate Student -
Plant Biology Advisor: Li-Qing Chen |
![]() |
Brooks, Matthew D.
matthew.d.brooks@usda.gov |
USDA ARS
Adjunct Assistant Professor - Plant Biology Integrating transcriptomic and physiological measurements to reveal gene regulatory networks coordinating photosynthesis and nitrogen use. |
![]() |
Burgess, Steven
sjb287@illinois.edu |
Assistant Professor - Plant Biology Sustainable ecosystems using synthetic biology tools to simplify, miniaturize and automate engineering of photosynthetic organisms |
![]() |
Cheeseman, John M. |
Professor Emeritus - Plant Biology The relationships between plant biology, food security, food sovereignty and actually feeding the world's poor |
![]() |
Chen, Li-Qing
lqchen77@illinois.edu |
Assistant Professor - Plant Biology Control of sugar allocation to improve crop yield or biomass for food and biofuels |
![]() |
Chen, Timothy |
Graduate Student -
Plant Biology Investigating mechanisms and evolution of carbon fixation Advisor: Steven Burgess |
![]() |
Christian, Natalie |
Postdoc |
![]() |
Conroy, Jessica
jconro@illinois.edu |
Associate Professor - Geology; Plant Biology PEEC paleoclimate variability on interannual to millennial timescales, paleolimnology, stable isotope hydrology, stable isotope geochemistry |
![]() |
D'Andrea Rocha, Rafael |
Postdoctoral Research Associate - Plant Biology |
![]() |
Dalling, James
dalling@illinois.edu |
Professor - Plant Biology
Director, Integrative Biology Honors PEEC Tropical forest dynamics, plant-soil and plant-fungal interactions, seed ecology |
![]() |
De Becker, Elsa |
Graduate Student -
Plant Biology Advisor: Stephen Long |
![]() |
De Silva, Kithmee |
Graduate Student -
Plant Biology Advisor: Matthew D. Brooks |
![]() |
DeLucia, Evan H. |
G. William Arends Professor of Integrative Biology Professor - Plant Biology Director - Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment PEEC Physiological ecology of vascular plants, photosynthesis, plant architecture, stress, climate change |
![]() |
Downie, Stephen R.
sdownie@illinois.edu |
Associate Dean for Curricula and Academic Policy, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Professor, Department of Plant Biology Curator, University of Illinois Vascular Plant Herbarium PEEC Systematics and evolution of flowering plants, with emphasis on the family Apiaceae |
![]() |
Feng, Jennifer |
Graduate Student -
Plant Biology Deep learning for pollen analysis, paleo-ENSO variability, historical ecology, Holocene land use and land cover change, landscape archaeology Advisor: Surangi W. Punyasena |
![]() |
Ferrer, Astrid |
Senior Research Scientist - Plant Biology |
![]() |
Flores, Manuel |
Graduate Student -
Plant Biology Advisor: James Dalling |
|
Fraterrigo, Jennifer
jmf@illinois.edu |
Associate Professor - Natural Resources & Environmental Sciences
Affiliate - Plant Biology PEEC Landscape ecology, effects of human and natural disturbance on ecosystem structure and function, land-water |
![]() |
Fu, Jie |
Graduate Student -
Plant Biology Advisor: Amy Marshall-Colon Advisor: Amy Marshall-Colon |
![]() |
Gabay-Laughnan, Susan
gabaylau@illinois.edu |
Retired--Senior Research Scientist Mitochondrial DNA mutations in maize and the effect of nuclear genes upon these mutations; mitochondrial S-type cytoplasmic male sterility and its nuclear restorer-of-fertility alleles; cytoplasmic reversion of CMS-S to fertility. |
![]() |
Govindjee, Govindjee
gov@illinois.edu |
Professor Emeritus - Plant Biology History of photosynthesis |
![]() |
Grennan, Aleel
agrennan@illinois.edu |
Senior Research Specialist - Plant Biology |
![]() |
Griesbaum, Karla |
Graduate Student -
Plant Biology Advisor: Katy D. Heath |
![]() |
Heath, Katy D.
kheath@illinois.edu |
Professor - Plant Biology PEEC symbiosis and mutualism evolution; evolutionary and ecological genetics of plant-microbe interactions; mobile genetic element and plasmid evolution; evolutionary responses to global change |
|
Huber, Steven Carl
schuber1@illinois.edu |
Professor Emeritus - Plant Biology Identification of biological mechanisms that regulate important plant processes and impact growth and development |
|
Jones, Lance |
Graduate Student -
Plant Biology Systematics of flowering plants and insects, especially Apiaceae (the carrot or parsley family) and Diptera (the true flies); with emphasis on monographic taxonomy and the description of new species; also understanding the evolutionary relationships and ecology of these groups Advisor: Stephen R. Downie |
![]() |
Jops, Kenny |
Graduate Student -
Plant Biology Mathematical and modelling approaches to ecological theory including community assemblage and plant competitive interactions. Advisor: James O'Dwyer |
|
Karakehian, Jason |
Graduate Student -
Plant Biology The systematics, biology and ecology of woody tissue-inhabiting, non-lichenized fungi in class Leotiomycetes (Ascomycota), with a special focus on taxa in orders Rhytismatales and Marthamycetales Advisor: Andrew Miller |
![]() |
Katz-Downie, Deborah
dkatzdow@illinois.edu |
Senior Research Scientist - Plant Biology |
![]() |
Kwafo, Seldon |
Graduate Student -
Plant Biology Advisor: Justin McGrath |
![]() |
Lakeram, Scott |
Graduate Student -
Plant Biology Interactions of arthropods and early plants during the Pennsylvanian period. |
|
Lara, Mark |
Assistant Professor - Plant Biology Geographic Information Science; GIS and Society; Space-Time Analytics; River, Watershed, and Landscape Dynamics |
![]() |
Leakey, Andrew D.B.
leakey@illinois.edu |
Professor and Head - Plant Biology
Director - Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation PEEC Integrative plant physiology, genetics and genomics; plant water use efficiency, photosynthesis and carbon metabolism; crop responses to elevated CO<sub>2</sub>, drought, temperature and ozone; crop sustainability and responses to global environmental change |
![]() |
Lindsey, Ellen S
elindse@illinois.edu |
Office Manager |
![]() |
Long, Stephen
slong@illinois.edu |
Ikenberry Endowed University Chair of Crop Sciences and Plant Biology PEEC Environmental physiology, atmospheric change impacts on crops and natural vegetation, C4 photosynthesis, energy crops, mathematical models of photosynthesis |
![]() |
Ludden, Caroline |
Graduate Student -
Plant Biology Advisor: Mark Lara |
|
Marshall-Colon, Amy
amymc@illinois.edu |
Associate Professor - Plant Biology Integrative modeling to investigate the multi-scale regulation of crop response to genetic and environmental perturbations. |
![]() |
Martin, Duncan |
Graduate Student -
Plant Biology Interactive effects of drought and ozone sress on crop physiology and biochemistry Advisor: Elizabeth "Lisa" Ainsworth |
![]() |
Masters, Michael
mmasters@illinois.edu |
Field Research Specialist - Plant Biology |
![]() |
Mayfield-Jones, Dustin |
Graduate Student -
Plant Biology Advisor: Andrew D.B. Leakey |
![]() |
McGrath, Jesse
jamcgrat@illinois.edu |
SoyFACE Research Coordinator |
![]() |
McGrath, Justin
justin.mcgrath@usda.gov |
USDA ARS
Adjunct Assistant Professor - Plant Biology |
![]() |
Miller, Andrew
amiller7@illinois.edu |
Principal Mycologist - Illinois Natural History Survey
Affiliate - Plant Biology PEEC Character evolution of ascomycetes with emphasis on members of the Class Sordariomycetes, biodiversity and biogeography of ascomycetes |
![]() |
Ming, Ray
rayming@illinois.edu |
Professor - Plant Biology Evolution of primitive sex chromosomes, genome structure of papaya, sugarcane, coffee and pineapple |
![]() |
Molano-Flores, Brenda
molano1@illinois.edu |
Senior Plant Ecologist - Illinois Natural History Survey
Affiliate - Entomology; Plant Biology plant-insect interactions, reproductive biology of plants, population biology, conservation biology; restoration |
![]() |
Montes, Christopher M |
Postdoctoral Researcher Examining Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.] and Maize (Zea mays L.) physiological responses to elevated ozone concentrations and genetically mapping ozone response |
![]() |
Moreno, Sami
smoreno7@illinois.edu |
Extra-help Office Support |
![]() |
O'Dwyer, James
jodwyer@illinois.edu |
Associate Professor, Director of Graduate Studies - Plant Biology PEEC We work with theoretical models and a broad range of data to understand patterns of biodiversity, from tropical forests to host-associated microbial systems like the human microbiome |
![]() |
Ort, Donald R
d-ort@illinois.edu |
Professor - Plant Biology Molecular and biochemical basis for environmental effects on photosynthesis, photosynthetic energy transduction |
![]() |
Osterhout, Bram |
Graduate Student -
Plant Biology Gene regulation in sorghum and metabolic modeling of wheat Advisor: Amy Marshall-Colon |
![]() |
Pagaldevatti, Sumashini |
Graduate Student -
Plant Biology Tropical forest ecology, plant-animal-fungal interactions, seed ecology Advisor: James Dalling |
![]() |
Punyasena, Surangi W.
spunya1@illinois.edu |
Associate Professor, Associate Head - Plant Biology PEEC Palynology, microscopy, machine learning, evolution |
![]() |
Quebedeaux, Jennifer |
Graduate Student -
Plant Biology Genetic Control of Carbon Metabolism and Water Use Efficiency as Targets to Improve Photosynthesis and Crop Yield Advisor: Andrew D.B. Leakey |
|
Sani, Daniel Eneji |
Graduate Student -
Plant Biology Interactive effects of elevated carbon dioxide and ozone stress on crop quality Advisor: Justin McGrath |
![]() |
Sargent, Malcolm
malcolms@illinois.edu |
Associate Professor Emeritus - Plant Biology Creation of user friendly, perspective oriented guides for the identification of bryophytes (mosses, liverworts and hornworts) |
![]() |
Schore, Aiden Isaac Gittler |
Graduate Student -
Plant Biology Examining interactions between climate, disturbances, and the physical environment across the Alaskan tundra via analysis of permafrost degradation, tall shrub expansion, and biological feedback effects Advisor: Mark Lara |
![]() |
Schuler, Mary
maryschu@illinois.edu |
Professor - Plant Biology; Biochemistry; Cell and Developmental Biology Affiliate - Entomology Pre-mRNA processing, P450 monooxygenases and their role in plant-insect interactions |
|
Seigler, David
daveseig@illinois.edu |
Professor Emeritus - Plant Biology PEEC Phytochemistry, chemical ecology, plant systematics, secondary products, systematics of Acacia species |
![]() |
Shearer, Carol
carolshe@illinois.edu |
Professor Emerita - Plant Biology Ecology of freshwater saprophytic fungal communities, systematics and biogeography of freshwater ascomycetes and fungi imperfecti |
![]() |
Shukla, Diwakar
diwakar@illinois.edu |
Blue Waters Associate Professor - Chemical and Biochemical Engineering
Affiliate - Plant Biology |
![]() |
Singh, Dilkaran |
Graduate Student -
Plant Biology Advisor: Amy Marshall-Colon Advisor: Amy Marshall-Colon |
![]() |
Song, Jinjin |
Graduate Student -
Plant Biology Advisor: Ray Ming |
![]() |
Sparrow, Ignacio |
Graduate Student -
Plant Biology Using and developing synthetic biology tools to create better, more robust crops Advisor: Steven Burgess |
![]() |
Warnow, Tandy
warnow@illinois.edu |
Grainger Distinguished Chair in Engineering
Founder Professor and Associate Head - Computer Science Affiliate - Entomology; Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior; Plant Biology PEEC Phylogenomics, multiple sequence alignment, and metagenomics |
![]() |
Yang, Wendy H.
yangw@illinois.edu |
Associate Professor - Plant Biology PEEC Terrestrial biogeochemistry, ecosystem ecology, stable isotope ecology, soil-atmosphere greenhouse gas dynamics, climate change |
![]() |
Zambrano, Michelle |
Graduate Student -
Plant Biology Abiotic stress in crops Advisor: Elizabeth "Lisa" Ainsworth |
![]() |
Zhang, Chen |
Graduate Student -
Plant Biology Advisor: Li-Qing Chen |
![]() |
Zhang, Xiaodan |
Graduate Student -
Plant Biology Advisor: Ray Ming |
![]() |
Zielinski, Raymond |
Professor Emeritus - Plant Biology |