Skip to main content
Skip to main content
Give      University of Florida

Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Dr. Melanie Correll

Associate Professor, Gene-based Crop Modeling, Abiotic and Biotic Stress Effects on Plants, Plant Microbiome

Dr. Melanie Correll is developing tools to help plant breeders design new plant cultivars to feed the 9 Billion people by 2050. These tools include the Next Generation of Crop models that link plant genetic information to their physiological traits (i.e., their phenotype) across targeted environments. In order to build and improve these models, Correll works with an interdisciplinary team of geneticists, plant breeders, agronomists, horticulturalists, computer scientists, and statisticians.

As climate changes, crop systems will be under tremendous stresses such as heat or drought stress so plant breeders are working hard to develop genotypes that are adapted to these stresses. The models developed by Correll can shorten the time for plant breeders to develop their cultivars by allowing them the ability to optimize the genetics of the plant for targeted environments without performing costly and time-consuming field or controlled-environment experiments.

Contact Information

correllm@ufl.edu

352-392-1864

Office:
209 Frazier Rogers Hall

Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 110570
Gainesville, FL 32611-0570

  • Research

    Departmental Research Areas:

    • Agricultural Production Engineering

    Research Focus:

    • G2P Models: Integrating genetics into crop models
    • Controlled environment agriculture
    • Plant Space Biology: Effects of space and light on plant growth and development
  • Teaching
    • ABE 3000C: Applications of Biological Engineering
    • ABE 4662: Quantification of Biological Processes
    • ABE 4905: Industrial Hygiene
  • Education
    • Ph.D. Biochemical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
    • B.S. Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Clemson University
  • Professional Experience
    • 2010-Present
      Associate Professor, Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department, University of Florida
    • 2004-2010
      Assistant Professor, ABE Department, University of Florida
    • 2001-2004
      Postdoctoral Associate, Department of Botany, Miami University
    • 1999-2000
      Teaching Assistant, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
  • Publications

  • Awards and Honors
    • Florida Section Teacher of the Year, American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, 2016
    • Theta Tau Mentor Recognition, 2008
    • NASA and European Space Agency Award, 2007
    • Florida Section Young Researcher, American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, 2007
    • Travel Award American Society of Plant Biologists
    • Danielli Award in Biology and Biotechnology
    • USDA National Needs Fellowship
    • Arvid Anderson Fellowship
    • Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Needs Fellowship
  • Other Professional Activities
    • Sigma Xi
    • American Society of Plant Biologists