Elsie May Burrows (née Pearson; 14 September 1913 – 26 August 1986) was an English botanist who made significant contributions to British postwar phycology.

[2] Burrows assumed a post as research assistant in the Department of Botany at the University of Liverpool in 1936, where she spent her career until she retired in 1973.

[1] She also undertook fieldwork, and her studies published in 1950 with Sheila Lodge on the interrelationships between marine algae and animals was ahead of the field.

[1] A number of specimens collected and identified by her for the Seaweed Mapping Scheme remain in the herbarium at the Ulster Museum.

[1] She also influenced phycology through training a number of doctoral students who went on to have significant careers, including Anne Archer, Tony Chapman, Robin South,, and Trevor Norton.