Mary S. Lipton

WSU-PNNL Joint Appointment
Research Professor

Ph.D. 1993, University of South Carolina

Research Interests

Dr Lipton is internationally recognized for applying new MS-based technologies for microbial molecular profiling to characterize plants, microbes, and ecosystems. Her research yields insights into microbial function for bioenergy and bioproduct synthesis, global carbon cycling and crop yields. Hallmark multi-omic applications include determination of relative quantitative changes in protein abundance, protein localization, and temporal changes in protein expression patterns in both microbes and communities using stable isotope probing.  Related research areas of interest include mechanisms of symbiosis within microbial communities determination of the mechanisms microbes utilize to interact with each other, interaction of leaf cutting ants at fungal gardens with microbial communities to degrade lignocellulose,  and the use of proteomics and metabolomics data to define the symbiotic relationship between microbes and plants. These applications have elucidated important biological processes that play integral roles in microbially-mediated interactions with eukaryotic organisms.

Dr. Lipton holds a joint appointment with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory where she has a leadership role in the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory.  She was also recently named as AAAS fellow (2023).