Skip to main content
College of Applied Science and Technology

Dr. Nicholas Heller

Associate Professor
Nicholas's Profile Image
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
  • Selected 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

AGR 499.005 Independent Research For The Masters Thesis

AGR 287.005 Independent Study

AGR 400.009 Independent Study

AGR 291.005 Undergraduate Teaching Experiences In Agriculture

AGR 400.004 Independent 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

Grants and Contracts

Experiential Learning in Applied Statistics and Data Science (ELIAS-DS)
Nicholas Heller.
USDA AFRI. 2024 - 2029
Sustaining Illinois Through Safe Drinking Water for All
Nicholas Heller.
Illinois Innovation Network. 2024 - 2025
Assessing Diverse Cover Crops for N and P Efficiency, C Sequestration, and Economic Impact on Illinois Crop Rotations
Nicholas Heller.
Illinois NREC. 2022 - 2025
Crossing the Digital Divide: Creating a Data-Savvy Workforce with Open Source Data Training Resources and Novel Industrial Credentialing Programs
Nicholas Heller.
USDA NIFA, AFRI. 2021 - 2025
IPReP - Pennycress Natural and Induced Variation to Improve Abiotic Stress Tolerance and Resilience
Nicholas Heller.
DOE BER. 2020 - 2025
IPREFER - Integrated Pennycress Research Enabling Farm and Energy Resilience
Nicholas Heller.
USDA NIFA CAP. 2019 - 2025

Journal Article

A Preliminary Study on Producing Volatile Fatty Acids from Winter Cover Crops
Tuba Lubna, Robert Rhykerd, David Kopsell, Nicholas Heller, Mahadi Hasan, Kathyryn Stahl, Liangcheng Yang.
BioEnergy Research, (2026), https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-026-11005-3
Biomass, nitrogen, and carbon loss from the novel oilseed pennycress relative to annual ryegrass and cereal rye
Ryan Meyer, Nicholas Heller, Robert Rhykerd, Alex Hafner, William Perry.
Cogent Food and Agriculture, (2023), https://doi.org/10.1080/23311932.2023.2215598
Seed treatment affected establishment and yield in two pennycress lines
N Koirala, D Barker, Russ Gesch, Yesuf Mohammed, Nicholas Heller, Alexander Hard, Samantha Wells, Winthop Phippen, Pamela Tas, Alexander Lindsey.
Frontiers in Agronomy, (2023), https://doi.org/10.3389/fagro.2023.1205259
Yield tradeoffs of early corn harvest to enhance pennycress establishment
Yesuf Mohammed, Russ Gesch, Samantha Wells, Nicholas Heller, Alexander Lindsey, Alexander Hard, Winthop Phippen, Bethany Bedeker.
Agronomy Journal, (2023), https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.21370
A process to enhance germination of a wild pennycress variety
N Koirala, D Barker, C Helfer, Winthop Phippen, Nicholas Heller, Alexander Hard, Samantha Wells, Alexander Lindsey.
Seed Science and Technology, (2022), https://doi.org/10.15258/sst.2022.50.2.03
Winter-type oilseed pennycress crop staging guide
Kyle Verhoff, Winthop Phippen, Nicholas Heller, Alexander Lindsey.
Crop, Forage, and Turfgrass Management, (2022), https://doi.org/10.1002/cft2.20165
A Very Oil Yellow 1 modifier of the Oil Yellow1-N1989 allele uncovers a cryptic phenotypic impact of cis-regulatory variation in maize
R Khangura, Sandeep Marla, B Venkata, Nicholas Heller, Guri Johal, Brian Dilkes.
G3: Genes, Genomics, Genetics, (2019), https://doi.org/10.1534/g3.118.200798
Anaerobic digestion of cereal rye cover crop
Liangcheng Yang, Lucas Lamont, John Sedbrook, Nicholas Heller, David Kopsell.
Fermentation, https://doi.org/10.3390/ fermentation8110617
Impacts of Harvest Date and Concurrent Alkali Pretreatment and Ensiling on Anaerobic Digestion of Pennycress Biomass
Liangcheng Yang, Tuba Yasmin Lubna, Michael Moklak, Nicholas Heller, Robert Rhykerd, David Kopsell.
Fermentation

Magazine/Trade Publication

Researchers focus on turning cover crops into energy, fertilizer
Liangcheng Yang, Robert Rhykerd, Nicholas Heller, David Kopsell.
FarmWeek, (2026)

Presentations

Converting Cover Crop Biomass to Biogas and Volatile Fatty Acids
Tuba Lubna, Mahadi Hasan, Abbie Gorsage, Nicholas Heller, Robert Rhykerd, Liangcheng Yang.
ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting, San Antonio, TX, November, 2024
Potential of pennycress as a cover crop: reduction of soil and porewater nutrients
Ryan Meyer, Hafner, Nicholas Heller, William Perry.
Illinois Innovation Network Conference, Springfield, IL Online, October 29, 2021