Flora Wambaugh Patterson

Flora Wambaugh Patterson (September 15, 1847–February 5, 1928) was an American mycologist, and the first female plant pathologist hired by the United States Department of Agriculture. She ran the US National Fungus Collections for almost thirty years, adding over 90,000 fungal specimens and expanding the collection six-fold, making it the largest of its kind in the world. Patterson and her team discovered several species of disease-causing fungi that infect plants and pose a significant threat to agriculture. Although modern agricultural practices can now keep many of these threats in check, pathogenic fungi still have the ability to decimate crop yield with devastating consequences. Patterson’s work provided a basis for federal legislation to establish mechanisms to help prevent the introduction of new fungal plant diseases in the U.S.