Dr. Betsy Pierson
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
eapierson@tamu.edu

Dr. Elizabeth (Betsy) Pierson is from the Chicago area. She received her B.S. (Honors Biology) from Indiana University and her Ph.D. (Botany) from Washington State University in 1988. She was a research faculty member at the University of Arizona for 19 years. She joined the Department of Horticultural Sciences at Texas A&M University as an Associate Professor in 2009.

She teaches HORT301 Garden Science, which she helped to revise, and provides undergraduate laboratory research experience. Dr. Pierson is also a member of the graduate programs in Molecular and Environmental Plant Sciences (MEPS) and Plant Pathology and Microbiology. She developed and teaches HORT619 Plant-associated Microorganisms, which is cross-listed and available to students in all three graduate programs.

Her primary research interests are plant-associated microbes and their utility for biological control and sustainable agriculture. Her research is focused on characterizing the mechanisms of interactions among plant-colonizing bacteria and with plants that result in biological control activity and thus provide opportunities for improvements in application. Her recent work also includes studies on emerging diseases of potato and citrus important to Texas growers, and biofuels. Her research has been supported by the United States Department of Agriculture, the National Science Foundation, and the Texas Department of Agriculture.

She is an associate editor for the journal Molecular Plant Microbe Interactions, recently chaired a USDA program review on biological control, and is a board member of the Texas Plant Protection Association. She enjoys mentoring youths in science-related projects and team building activities, especially youth sports.