Elizabeth A. (Liz) Bowman

My research focuses on plant–fungal symbioses and how these interactions change across environmental contexts, particularly in response to shifting abiotic and biotic conditions. I take an integrative approach that considers both above- and belowground processes, examining how microbial communities—from foliar endophytes to mycorrhizal fungi and broader soil microbiota—interact with each other and with their host plants. I’m especially interested in how these relationships can shift along a continuum from beneficial to neutral or even antagonistic as environmental conditions or community composition change. More broadly, my work connects microbial community dynamics to plant performance and ecosystem processes to understand how these interactions scale from within individual hosts to larger ecological patterns.

My research spans multiple systems. In the Madrean Sky Island Archipelago, I studied microbial associations with Pinus ponderosa across isolated mountain ranges. In South Texas, I examine how non-native grasses form new symbiotic relationships and, in turn, reshape soil environments and plant communities through changes in plant–soil feedbacks. I also work with the Fungarium in the Billie L. Turner Plant Resource Center, collecting specimens and training the public on how to collect mushrooms for submission.