Dr. Ronald Petersen is Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Tennessee. He received a B.A. in Plant Biology & Botany from Colgate University, an M.S. of Botany from Cornell University, and a PhD from Columbia University.
Dr. Petersen was named a Distinguished Mycologist by the Mycological Society of America in 2000, and was a Gertrude Burlingham Scholar at the New York Botanical Garden in the Summers of 1959 & 1960. He is a member of the Botanical Society of America and the North American Mycological Association, among other societies.
Throughout his career, Dr. Petersen spent significant time conduscting research in the field. His travels have taken him around the world to places such as New Zealand, China, Puerto Rico, Australia, Mexico, Costa Rica, Argentina, Germany, The Soviet Union and Russia,. Outside of his many published research papers, Dr. Petersen has authored 9 books.