Maria Harrison studies arbuscular mycorrhizal symbioses, which are mutualistic associations of plant roots and fungi. Her research has advanced our understanding of how plants accommodate fungal endosymbionts within their root cells and how reciprocal transfer of phosphate and carbon between the two partners is achieved.
Maria studied microbiology at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and plant molecular biology at the University of Manchester, Institute of Science and Technology where she obtained her Ph.D. in 1987. She joined the Plant Biology Division of the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation in Oklahoma as a postdoctoral researcher, where subsequently, as a Staff Scientist, she initiated research on arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis. In 2003, she moved to the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research located at Cornell University.
Maria has served on the Board of Directors of the International Society for Molecular Plant Microbe Interactions and several editorial boards including New Phytologist, Annual Reviews of Plant Biology and eLife. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and of the American Academy for Microbiology. She was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 2019.
Professional position
- William H. Crocker Professor, Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research
- Adjunct Professor, Cornell University
