2021 MSA Fellows

A. Elizabeth (Betsy) Arnold
Betsy is a Professor of Plant Sciences and Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona, where she serves as Curator of the Robert L. Gilbertson Mycological Herbarium. She has served MSA as an Executive Editor and Review Editor of Mycologia, as chair of the Karling Annual Lecture Committee, Distinctions Committee, and Endowment Committee, as a member of MSA committees and working groups focusing on biodiversity, program planning, and inclusion, and by organizing / co-organizing symposia and workshops at five MSA meetings and other national and international venues. She will serve as MSA President starting in July 2021. Her research centers on fungal ecology and evolution, with a special focus on foliar endophytes, seed-associated fungi, and interactions between bacteria and fungi. With her cherished mentees and colleagues she has published over 135 peer-reviewed papers to date. She has developed diverse courses in mycology and related topics at the University of Arizona, where she is an award-winning instructor at the graduate and undergraduate levels. Since assuming her faculty position in 2005, she has mentored seven postdocs, 14 PhD students, 12 MS students, 10 K-12 and tribal college instructors, over 130 undergraduate researchers and curatorial assistants, and more than 40 high school students. She has been recognized for her work in diversity and inclusion by the University of Arizona’s Center for Excellence in Global Education and College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She has been honored for her work in mycology with the AH Buller Medal from the International Mycological Association, and the MSA’s William H. Weston Award for Excellence in Teaching and Alexopoulos Prize.

Sharon A. Cantrell
Sharon is a Professor of the Department of Biology at Universidad Ana G. Méndez, Recinto de Gurabo. Dr. Cantrell has a Ph.D. in Phytopathology with a concentration in Mycology and Systematics from the University of Georgia, USA. After completing her Ph.D. she returned to Puerto Rico to work as a National Research Council Post Doctoral

Fellow under the supervision of Dr. D. Jean Lodge in the USDA Forest Service in El Yunque National Forest. She came to work with the NSF funded project “Basidiomycetes of the Greater Antilles”. Since 2000, she has been working at Universidad Ana G. Méndez as faculty as well as occupying administrative positions such as Coordinator of the Undergraduate Research Program, Head of the Department of Biology and Associate Vice Chancellor for Graduate Studies and Research and currently is the Director of the Center for Graduate Studies and Research. Currently, Dr. Cantrell is Vice President of the International Mycological Association and was President of the Mycological Society of America from 2018-2019. She also served as MSA Treasurer and MSA Councilor of Systematic and Evolution. She also served as Caribbean Councilor in the American Phytopathological Society. Her research concentrates in the study of the diversity and role of fungi in different ecosystems including extreme environments and how fungal communities are affected by disturbances. She has over 30 peer review publications, over 80 presentations in national and international congresses, over 40 invited presentations, has described approximately 25 new species of fungi for Puerto Rico and the Caribbean region and has been very active in disseminating the importance of fungi through workshops, lectures and TV programs. Dr. Cantrell has received awards from the National Science Foundation and the US Department of Education and several distinctions such Puerto Rican Mycological Society Distinguished Mycologists (2008), Lady’s in Education in Puerto Rico (2008), Distinguished Scientist of the Puerto Rican Association of Women in Science and Technology (2010) and fellow of the International Mycological Association (2017).

Andrew Miller
Dr. Miller is a Principle Research Scientist and Director of the Fungarium/Herbarium at the Illinois Nature History Survey at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He has served the society through chairing three symposia, as Councilor of Systematics/Evolution, as a member of the Biodiversity, Culture Collection and Program committees, as the NCSA representative, as a judge for graduate student presentations, and as an Associate Editor for Mycologia. He has been actively involved in the international mycological community as a member of the International Fungal Working Group on DNA barcoding, as Executive Vice President of the International Committee on the Taxonomy of Fungi, and as an investigator for the North American Mycological Association Toxicology committee. With Scott Bates, Andrew manages the Mycology Collections Portal (MyCoPortal) serving over 7.5M fungal records from more than 120 national and international collections. A major research focus of the Miller Lab is the discovery and description of novel fungal taxa, with over 110 new taxa described including the world’s oldest fossil mushroom. Dr. Miller’s academic excellence has been recognized through a Distinguished Research Scientist award by his institution and an Outstanding Graduate Alumni award through Eastern Illinois University. He teaches a General Mycology course for senior undergraduates and graduate students and leads discussion groups at the University of Illinois. Dr. Miller has served as advisor for seven postdocs, 10 PhD and MS students, four visiting PhD students, and 20 undergraduate students.