Education

• M.S. | 2019 | Grand Valley State University, Biology
• B.S. | 2008 | Lees-McRae College, Wildlife Biology

Research Interests

Mary Pitts, MS, is a researcher in the soil ecology lab, where she specializes in Forest Health. Prior to joining in 2020, she traveled the U.S. conducting biological surveys on lesser prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus), sand dune lizards (Sceloporus arenicolu), and Kuenzler hedgehog cactus (Echinocereus fendleri), managed funding for wildfires, and served with AmeriCorps at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences. At Holden, her work primarily involves detection of Beech Leaf Disease (BLD) throughout Ohio in partnership with ODNR. Mary uses molecular techniques in the detection of L. crenatae ssp. mccannii (the nematode associated with BLD) in leaf and bud samples collected across the state.

Select Publications

• Cellular Dynamics of Beech Leaf Disease on Fagus sylvatica
• The presence and distribution of nematode Litylenchus crenatae ssp. mccannii, the causative agent of beech leaf disease, in forest stands across Ohio
• Development of Primers Specific for Detection of Litylenchus crenatae, the Causal Agent of Beech Leaf Disease, in Plant Tissue