Gwyn A. Beattie

Gwyn A. Beattie is the Robert Earle Buchanan Distinguished Professor of Bacteriology for Research and Nomenclature at Iowa State University, working in the areas of plant pathology and microbiology. Beattie uses molecular and cellular perspectives to examine questions about the ecology of plant bacteria such as the ways in which plant leaves respond to environmental cues, and the genomics underlying microbial responses on and within plant leaves. Her work on the microbiome and the positive influence of microbes has implications for plant health and productivity, with the potential to improve crop yields and counter food insecurity.

Beattie has chaired the American Phytopathological Society's Public Policy Board. She helped to develop the term phytobiome and publish Phytobiomes: A Roadmap for Research and Translation (2016). She has served on the Board of Directors of the International Alliance for Phytobiomes Research. Beattie has served as a Senior Editor for Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions and became a co-editor of the Annual Review of Phytopathology as of 2022.