Amy Marshall-Colon

Amy Marshall-Colon is an Associate Professor in the Department of Plant Biology at the University of Illinois, with additional roles as an Assistant Professor at the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment and an Affiliate at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) and Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology. She holds a B.S. from Lipscomb University (2000), M.S. from University of Florida (2002), Ph.D. from Purdue University (2009), and completed an NIH-NRSA Fellowship at New York University (2010–2013).

Her research focuses on integrative systems biology approaches to study crop responses to environmental stresses, particularly nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and climate change impacts. This includes analyzing cross-communication among signaling pathways and developing multiscale computational models to predict gene-by-environment interactions. Key areas span plant molecular mechanisms, metabolic pathways, and the design of virtual crop models for sustainable agriculture.

Recent publications highlight work on bioenergy sorghum stem development, root architectural adaptations in Brachypodium, and CO2 response mechanisms in Arabidopsis. These studies emphasize spatial transcriptomics, gene regulatory networks, and computational tools for predicting crop resilience in changing climates.

• Awards:
  • Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award (2021)
  • Joseph B. Hawkes Research Award (University of Illinois)
  • NCSA Faculty Fellowship
  • List of Teachers Ranked Excellent by Students
  • Teaching Tools in Plant Biology Competition Winner

Her advising and grants narrative involves leading interdisciplinary teams at NCSA and the Carl R. Woese Institute, focusing on crop modeling and sustainable biomass production. Collaborations extend to global research networks, addressing nitrogen dynamics, abiotic stress, and computational plant science. She is part of the Crops In Silico initiative and actively contributes to labs investigating plant systems biology and genomic applications.