Skip to main content
Department of Agriculture

Dr. Nicholas Heller

Assistant Professor of Crop Sciences
Agriculture
Office
Clarence R Ropp Agriculture Bldng - RAB 146
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
  • Research

Biography

My passion is teaching excellence in plant breeding and genetics, applied statistics, and environmentally-sound and profitable agronomic practices.

Current Courses

400.004Independent Study

272.001Agricultural Genetics

363.001Agricultural Statistics

499.006Independent Research For The Masters Thesis

287.017Independent Study

400.005Independent Study

400.006Independent Study

355.001Plant Breeding And Biotechnology

302.010Special Problems In Agriculture

291.008Undergraduate Teaching Experiences In Agriculture

Research Interests & Areas

My current research interests include:
Domestication and Breeding Pennycress as a Cash Cover Crop
Agronomic Relations in Cropping Systems that Utilize Cover Crops
Future-Focused and Environmentally-Aware Agronomic Practices
Breeding Crop Plants for Aesthetics, Nutritional Quality, and Yield particularly in Sub-Optimal Conditions

Ph D Crop Science

University of Illinois
Urbana-Champaign

BA Biology

Illinois Wesleyan University
Bloomington

Journal Article

Yang, L., Lamont, L., Sedbrook, J., Heller, N., & Kopsell, D. Anaerobic digestion of cereal rye cover crop. Fermentation

Presentations

Potential of pennycress as a cover crop: reduction of soil and porewater nutrients. Illinois Innovation Network Conference. Illinois Innovation Network Conference. (2021)