Elizabeth W Davidson

Elizabeth W. Davidson received her doctorate in entomology from Ohio State University where she studied the interactions between insects and bacteria. Her research in this field is now being used worldwide to help control mosquitoes and black flies. In recent years, she has focused her research on the diseases of amphibians and has worked in collaboration with scientists from around the globe. Their work has shown that amphibians are disappearing at an alarming rate in countries all over the...See more

Elizabeth W. Davidson received her doctorate in entomology from Ohio State University where she studied the interactions between insects and bacteria. Her research in this field is now being used worldwide to help control mosquitoes and black flies. In recent years, she has focused her research on the diseases of amphibians and has worked in collaboration with scientists from around the globe. Their work has shown that amphibians are disappearing at an alarming rate in countries all over the world (nearly half of all species could become extinct during our lifetimes). Dr. Davidson and her colleagues are working to isolate the various causes of these population declines and to help preserve these fascinating creatures. Her laboratory, for example, found a highly pathogenic virus causing die-offs of the endangered Sonoran tiger salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum stebbinsi). Dr. Davidson and her husband, Dr. Joseph Davidson, have been at Arizona State University since 1973. See less