Mary Williams

I studied Biochemistry at Berkeley (BA), Plant Molecular Biology at Rockefeller (PhD), did a postdoc at Berkeley with Ian Sussex, and then spent 14 years as a Biology professor at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California. In 2009 I started working at the American Society of Plant Biologists as Features Editor of the journal Plant Cell and the developer of Teaching Tools in Plant Biology. My passion lies in making it a little bit easier for students of all ages to understand plants and plant science research. I live in Glasgow, Scotland, with my family and our much adored dog.

Plant Physiology webinar: Focus on algae and aquatic plants

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Plant Physiology Webinar: Focus on Algae and Aquatic Plants Celebrating the 2026 Focus Collection on Algae and Aquatic Plants Recorded September 24, 2026 About this webinar Aquatic photosynthetic species are critical contributors to the carbon cycle and maintenance of the global biosphere. Many have evolved specialized processes to cope with resource limitations in their environments, … Read more

Plant Physiology is recruiting Assistant Features Editors to start in 2027 and 2028

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The application period is now closed! Keep your eyes open for the next opportunity to join the AFE program, sometime in 2027. Thank you and best wishes to all applicants. Since 2018, Plant Physiology has welcomed more than 100 early-career scientists to participate in the AFE program. Feedback from AFEs consistently reports on the positive … Read more

Plant Physiology webinar: Focus on Metabolism

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Plant Physiology Webinar: Focus on Metabolism Celebrating the 2026 Focus Collection on Plant Metabolism Recorded May 19, 2026 About This Webinar Plants employ diverse metabolic pathways to produce large numbers of metabolites, not only critical to plant growth, development, and defense, but also important to humans as foods, medicines, and raw materials. Recent advances in … Read more

Plant Physiology webinar: Focus on Ecophysiology

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Celebrating the 2026 Focus Collection on Plant Ecophysiology  Recorded Thursday February 26, 2026 at ABOUT THIS WEBINAR A recent issue of Plant Physiology, edited by Wagner L. Araújo, Florian Busch, Tracy Lawson, Christine Scoffoni, Xinguang Zhu, and Agustin Zsögön, has a focus on plant ecophysiology. Plant ecophysiology is an experimental science that deals with how … Read more

New Teaching Tool, “Genomic Analysis of Botanical Collections”

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We are pleased to announce the release of the latest unit in the Teaching Tools in Plant Biology series, “Genomic Analysis of Botanical Collections: Opportunities and Challenges,” by Martina Deglialberti, Chiara Paleni, Federico Fainelli, Carla Lambertini, and Silvia Manrique. This Teaching Tools provides an overview of how botanical collections of all sorts can be used … Read more