Addie Thompson

Addie Thompson is an Assistant Professor at Michigan State University's College of Agriculture & Natural Resources, affiliated with the Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, Plant Resilience Institute, and Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Biotechnology Program. Her expertise spans maize genetics, genomics, and phenomics, with a focus on genotype-environment interactions.

• B.S. from Iowa State University
• Ph.D. from University of Minnesota
• Postdoctoral work at University of Minnesota & Purdue University

Research focuses on drought stress adaptation, high-throughput phenotyping, and quantitative genetics in maize and sorghum systems. Current projects include computational modeling of crop traits, field phenotyping technologies, and cross-species stress response analysis.

She leads maize genetics research while participating in national initiatives like the Genomes-to-Fields Initiative, with recent publications on phenotypic plasticity, hyperspectral imaging applications, and climate-resilient breeding strategies. Her work connects molecular genetics to agricultural productivity through advanced data modeling and field experimentation.

Thompson directs the Thompson Maize Lab which focuses on:

• Maize and sorghum genotype-environment interactions
• Phenomics technologies for trait analysis
• Development of computational breeding tools
• Climate resilience trait discovery
• Historical genetic diversity patterns
• Agricultural workforce development