Mary Helen Goldsmith is a plant physiologist known for her work on how hormones impact plant growth. She is a fellow and past president of the

American Society of Plant Physiologists American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

Education and career

Goldsmith has a B.A. from Cornell University. She earned her Ph.D. in 1960 from

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and functioned as the female coordinate institution for the all-male Harvard College. Considered founded in 1879, it was one of the Seven Sisters colleges and he ...

where she researched the importance of indole acetic acid in the grass, ''

Avena ''Avena'' is a genus of Eurasian and African plants in the grass family. Collectively known as the oats, they include some species which have been cultivated for thousands of years as a food source for humans and livestock. They are widesprea ...

''. In 1963 she joined the faculty at Yale University where she worked until her retirement in 2006. Goldsmith was the director of the

Marsh Botanical Garden The Marsh Botanical Garden is a botanical garden and arboretum located on the Yale University campus at 265 Mansfield Street in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. History The Garden was established in 1899 when paleontologist Othniel Charles ...

for sixteen years and included visits to the garden in some of her classes. She also served as the president of the American Society of Plant Physiologists.

Research

Goldsmith's early work was on impact of oxygen on insects. During her Ph.D., she began to examine the movement of auxins, such as indole acetic acid, into corn. She particularly focused on the polar diffusion of auxins. Her research extends to studies on changes in plant cells during transport of polar chemicals, intracellular measurements of membrane potential, and activation of

potassium channel Potassium channels are the most widely distributed type of ion channel found in virtually all organisms. They form potassium-selective pores that span cell membranes. Potassium channels are found in most cell types and control a wide variety of cel ...

Selected publications

* * * * *

Awards and honors

*1986 - Goldsmith received a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

in plant sciences. * 2007 - Goldsmith was named a fellow of the

American Society of Plant Biologists American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

. * Goldsmith has been recognized as a Pioneer Member of the American Society of Plant Biologists. https://aspb.org/membership/aspb-pioneer-members/

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldsmith, Mary Helen Cornell University alumni Radcliffe College alumni Yale University faculty Living people Plant physiologists Women botanists Year of birth missing (living people)