Lab membersResearchTeachingPublicationsPutting the "fun" in "fungus" • For prospective graduate students


A representative sample of the Arnold lab, collected in November 2008: L-R, back row: Doug Mahana, Jana U'Ren, Ellen Suurmeyer, Mary Jane Epps,
Michele Hoffman, Jamal Alafifi. Front row: Mariana del Olmo R., Fabiola Santos R., Mali Gunatilaka, Barbara Beauchamp, Betsy Arnold.
Not pictured: Aleksi Saarela, Melissa Kohmetscher, Alex Laetsch.

We're broadly interested in the ecology and evolution of plant-fungal symbioses. We use classic microbiological methods, ecological sampling techniques, molecular tools, and the robust framework of phylogenetic biology to understand fungal biodiversity, the ecological roles and evolutionary importance of cryptic microfungi, and the evolution of symbiotic lifestyles across the fungal tree of life. Our field sites range from the Canadian Arctic to lowland rainforests in Panama, and our interests range from bacterial symbionts of fungi to the effects of soilborne molds on tropical forest dynamics. Our diverse projects are united by a passion for organismal biology and our interdisciplinary approach to addressing biological questions.


Our many homes:

Division of Plant Pathology and Microbiology
Department of Plant Sciences
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Robert L. Gilbertson Mycological Herbarium
The University of Arizona

Arnold lab news! Click here!

Schedule for lab meetings! Click here!

Thanks to Margrit McIntosh for page design!

Contact us:

Dr. A. Elizabeth (Betsy) Arnold
Assistant Professor, Plant Pathology and Microbiology
Curator, Robert L. Gilbertson Mycological Herbarium
Department of Plant Sciences
The University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721

Email: arnold@ag.arizona.edu