Nichola Austen is a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Illinois as a member of the Long Lab. She earned her doctorate in environmental metabolomics at the University of Sheffield and has completed  postdoctoral research appointments at the University of Sheffield and the University of Oxford. Her research is primarily focused on improving photosynthetic efficiency in crops through modeling photosynthesis. Peers can find her work in multiple journals including the Journal of Cleaner Production and Frontiers in Plant Science. She was also published by the UK Research and Innovation in the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.