Allison Miller, PhD

The Miller Lab has zeroed in on long-lived crops as one possible tool to build a sustainable agricultural system. Long-lived crops, or perennials, live for many years, enriching the soil, and their deep roots combat erosion and sequester more carbon. In a world where 70% of crops are annuals, conversion of even a fraction to perennial crops would have a big environmental impact. “For years, humans have grown crops to serve human needs, often at the expense of the environment. It’s time we developed crops that can benefit the planet, as well as humans.”

Allison and her team are currently trialing 12 herbaceous perennial species as candidates for crop development. It takes a long time to domesticate plants, and for longer-lived plants, it takes even longer. To speed the process, the Miller Lab is attempting early stage selection—predicting future traits from early life stage traits—an endeavor that she credits to Danforth Center resources. “The Danforth Center has incredible infrastructure. We have the computational power and know-how, unique robotic trait monitoring, the world’s best research greenhouses, expert staff, all under one roof. It makes cutting-edge research possible.”

Today, as a principal investigator at the Danforth Center and professor of biology at Saint Louis University, Allison is still fascinated by the diversity of plants. She sees in them hope and potential to save the world: “Plants offer unlimited potential solutions to every major agricultural and ecological problem we are facing. We are not tapped out—we are not even close to discovering all the plant biodiversity that might help.”