A. Elizabeth (Betsy) Arnold

After graduating from Duke in 1995 with a B.S. in Biology, I moved to Panama and worked as a field assistant with Lissy Coley and Tom Kursar (University of Utah) at Barro Colorado Island. After 14 months of increasing obsession with tropical mycology, I returned to my home state for graduate school. I completed my Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona with Lucinda McDade in November, 2002. During that time, my work focused on the diversity and ecology of fungal endophytes associated with leaves of tropical trees. From December 2003-December 2004, I was supported by NSF as a Postdoctoral Fellow in Microbial Biology with sponsorship from François Lutzoni at Duke University. Our collaborative projects included fieldwork at the northern edge of boreal forest in Québec, and new explorations of the endophyte-like fungi inhabiting lichen thalli (endolichenic fungi).

I joined the faculty in the Division of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Department of Plant Sciences, at the UA in January, 2005. I currently teach three courses, curate the Robert L. Gilbertson Mycological Herbarium, lead research projects focusing on the ecology, evolution, and systematics of plant-associated fungi, chair our department's Graduate Recruitment Committee, and work with a terrific group of students and researchers.

When I'm not teaching or working the lab, I enjoy spending time with the woo-dog, the chilicat, the Best Truck in the World, beetles on streamshores, old vacuum tubes, big mountains, tropical forests, my family's old cabin in Iron Springs, a sweet borrowed banjo, good company, sad music, and tasty beverages -- a few of which are depicted here.