Maria J. Harrison FRS is William H. Crocker Scientist professor at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Science, and adjunct professor in the School of Integrative Plant Science at Cornell University.

[1] [3] She received her PhD in biochemistry from the University of Manchester in 1987 for research investigating gene expression in tomato seeds supervised by T.A.

[2] [4] Harrison's lab, including post-doctoral, graduate, undergraduate, and intern students, utilizes a combination of molecular, cell biology, genetic, and genomic techniques to investigate the developmental mechanisms underlying the symbiosis and phosphate transfer between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AM fungi; AMF) (including Glomus versiforme, Glomus intraradices, and Gigaspora gigantea) and the roots of model legume Medicago truncatula.

[6] These discoveries have allowed the field of fungal-plant interactions to pursue new research questions including future manipulation of phosphate acquisition in valuable crop species.

[6] She was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in April 2019[7] and a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2024.