The ability to computationally mimic the growth, development and response of crops to the environment will allow researchers to conduct more experiments than can realistically be achieved in the field, meaning more knowledge will be generated in a shorter time period.
Marshall-Colón will collaborate with Stephen P. Long, the Gutgsell Endowed Professor of Crop Sciences and Plant Biology; Matthew Turk, Assistant Professor of Information Sciences, Assistant Research Professor of Astronomy and National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) Research Scientist;, Christine Kirkpatrick, Executive Director of the National Data Service and Jonathan Lynch, University Distinguished Professor of Plant Science at Penn State University.
The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research matches every research dollar granted with non-federal funds. Support from the Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign awarded to Long and NCSA funding awarded to Turk will provide matching funds to support the Cis team and double the impact of the FFAR grant.
The team will work to integrate above- and below-ground models of plants to create never-before-seen “whole views.” Then, they will subject these newly built virtual plants to computer-simulated extreme growing conditions and compare the model’s predicted plant reaction to observed responses from field studies. This will help improve the model’s accuracy.
Beyond a technological breakthrough, the Cis team also aims to achieve a research community shift.
“We believe Crops in silico will unite largely isolated efforts into a connected and collaborative community that can take full advantage of advances in computation science and mechanistic understanding of plant processes and their responses to the environment,” Marshall-Colón said.
Marshall-Colón and Long are iSEE Faculty Affiliates and NCSA Faculty Fellows.
Learn more: cropsinsilico.org.