Megan Leigh Matthews

Megan Leigh Matthews serves as Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's Grainger College of Engineering, with additional affiliation at the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology. Her interdisciplinary research bridges environmental engineering, plant biology, and computational modeling to address agricultural sustainability challenges.

Her research focuses on bioenergy systems, crop yield optimization, and photosynthetic engineering, leveraging genomic biology to develop sustainable agricultural solutions. Key areas include lignin biosynthesis pathways in bioenergy crops, nitrogen fixation efficiency in legume-rhizobia symbiosis, and marginal land utilization for biomass production. She employs systems-level modeling approaches to connect molecular mechanisms with field-scale agricultural outcomes.

Matthews' recent publications demonstrate strong engagement with climate-resilient agriculture and net-zero emission strategies. Her work shows particular emphasis on integrating detailed photosynthetic kinetics into crop growth models and developing predictive decision support systems for water and nutrient management. The research exhibits significant interdisciplinary collaboration across plant science, environmental engineering, and climate science domains.

Her scholarly impact is evidenced by substantial social media engagement (including 18 X posts and Bluesky references) and robust academic readership (over 35 Mendeley readers per major publication). Media coverage includes features in 4 news outlets and academic blogs.

Matthews maintains active research leadership through collaborative projects addressing agricultural sustainability challenges, particularly in developing computational frameworks that bridge genomic insights with field applications. Her work demonstrates strong alignment with urgent climate adaptation needs in agricultural systems.