Sarah Elizabeth Smith (née Harley; 10 May 1941 – 12 September 2019) was a British-born Australian mycologist specialising in mycorrhiza.
The Australian Academy of Science described her as "a world authority on the mycorrhizal symbiosis between plants and fungi".
[1] She was an adjunct and emeritus professor at the University of Adelaide, in the School of Agriculture, Food and Wine.
[2][5] Smith's research was on the evolution and progress of mycorrhizal symbioses, mainly the arbuscular mycorrhizas (Gleomeromycotan fungi).
Mycorrhizal symbioses are a symbiotic or mildly pathogenic connection between fungi and the roots of a vascular plant.