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Department of Agriculture

Dr. Nicholas Heller

Associate Professor
Agriculture
Office
RAB Ropp Agriculture Building 142
Office Hours
Office Hours:
I have an open-door policy - stop by any time, or send an email to schedule a visit! njhelle@ilstu.edu
Office Phone
(309) 438-8095office
phone
Email
njhelle@ilstu.eduemail
Website
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nichola... website
  • About
  • Education
  • Awards & Honors
  • Research

Biography

Dr Heller is from a small town in Illinois and champions student success and experience. He is the Quiz Bowl contest chair for SASES and advisor to the undergraduate RSO Agronomy Club as well as advisor to some awesome graduate students.

Current Courses

364.001Advanced Agronomy

272.001Agricultural Genetics

499.005Independent Research For The Masters Thesis

287.005Independent Study

400.009Independent Study

302.020Special Problems In Agriculture

291.005Undergraduate Teaching Experiences In Agriculture

400.004Independent Study

Teaching Interests & Areas

I have taught classes in Agronomy, Genetics, Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, Regenerative Agriculture, Precision Agriculture Data Analysis, and Applied Statistics. I particularly enjoy teaching the statistics courses.

Research Interests & Areas

My current research interests include:
Regenerative Agriculture Concepts and Techniques
Experimental Design and Data Analysis
Previous Research activities have included studies on cover crops and nutrient relations (https://www.farmweeknow.com/environmental/nrec-selects-new-research-to-join-continuing-efforts/article_cfbe062a-5ae3-11ed-8121-a754b3352b2d.html) and
Domestication and Breeding Pennycress as a Cash Cover Crop (https://news.illinoisstate.edu/2020/09/powerful-pennycress/#:~:text=Sedbrook%20and%20his%20student%20researchers,million%20Department%20of%20Energy%20grant.)
Finally, we are also looking at Future-Focused and Environmentally-Aware Agronomic Practices

Ph D Crop Science

University of Illinois
Urbana-Champaign

BA Biology

Illinois Wesleyan University
Bloomington

Outstanding Research Award

Department of Agriculture
2024

Outstanding Research Award

Department of Agriculture
2023

RISE to the CoVID Challenge Recognition

Illinois State University
2021

Journal Article

Koirala, N., D.J. Barker, R.W. Gesch. Y.A. Mohammed, N.J. Heller, A.W. Hard, S.S. Wells, W.B. Phippen, P. Tas, A.J. Lindsey. 2023. Seed treatment affected establishment and yield in two pennycress lines. Frontiers in Agronomy. https://doi.org/10.3389/fagro.2023.1205259
Meyer, R.T., N.J. Heller, R.L. Rhykerd, A.W. Hafner, W.L. Perry. 2023. Biomass, nitrogen, and carbon loss from the novel oilseed pennycress relative to annual ryegrass and cereal rye. Cogent Food and Agriculture, 9, 1. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311932.2023.2215598
Mohammed, Y.A., R.W. Gesch, S.S. Wells, N.J. Heller, A.J. Lindsey, A.W. Hard, W.B. Phippen, B. Bedeker*. 2023. Yield tradeoffs of early corn harvest to enhance pennycress establishment. Agronomy Journal. https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.21370
Koirala, N., D. Barker, C.A. Helfer, W.B. Phippen, N.J. Heller, A.W. Hard, S. Wells and A.J. Lindsey.
2022. A process to enhance germination of a wild pennycress variety. Seed Science and Technology, 50, 2, 195-205. https://doi.org/10.15258/sst.2022.50.2.03
Verhoff, K.A., W.B. Phippen, N.J. Heller, A.J. Lindsey. 2022. Winter-type oilseed pennycress crop
staging guide. Crop, Forage & Turfgrass Management, 8, e20165. https://doi.org/10.1002/cft2.20165

Presentations

Converting Cover Crop Biomass to Biogas and Volatile Fatty Acids. ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting. (2024)
Potential of pennycress as a cover crop: reduction of soil and porewater nutrients. Illinois Innovation Network Conference. Illinois Innovation Network Conference. (2021)

Grants & Contracts

Experiential Learning in Applied Statistics and Data Science (ELIAS-DS). USDA AFRI. Federal. (2024)
Sustaining Illinois Through Safe Drinking Water for All. Illinois Innovation Network. State. (2024)
Assessing Diverse Cover Crops for N and P Efficiency, C Sequestration, and Economic Impact on Illinois Crop Rotations. Illinois NREC. State. (2022)
Crossing the Digital Divide: Creating a Data-Savvy Workforce with Open Source Data Training Resources and Novel Industrial Credentialing Programs. USDA NIFA, AFRI. Federal. (2021)
IPReP - Pennycress Natural and Induced Variation to Improve Abiotic Stress Tolerance and Resilience. DOE BER. Federal. (2020)