from the University of Wisconsin, where her research involved using a radioactive nickel tracer to study the physical and chemical processes of the electrodeposition of metal on a cathode.
[2] A botanical researcher at Duke University, Culberson pioneered the use of thin-layer chromatography in the identification of secondary lichen products,[5] developing a standardized method that is still used today.
She developed skills in culturing single spore isolates and analyzing them with HPLC to search for evidence of gene flow between chemotypes.
Culberson died on March 3, 2023, at Croasdaile Village, a senior adult community in Durham, North Carolina.
[2] At the 9th International Association for Lichenology conference held virtually in Brazil on 4 August 2021, the lichen chemistry symposium was dedicated to Culberson for her 90th birthday.