Dr. Renee Helen Petipas

Dr. Renee Helen Petipas, born in 1979 to Thomas and Diane M. Petipas, is a global change biologist researching how global change impacts plant microbe interactions, microbe-mediated phenotypes and emergent properties. Dr. Petipas earned her B.S. at the University of New Hampshire in 2006, her M.S. at the University of Vermont in 2011 and her Ph.D. at Cornell University in 2018. She has held three post-doctoral fellowships at Washington State University. In 2025 Dr. Petipas is a lecturer in the Department of Plant Biology at the University of Vermont. From 2009-2024 she authored 17 research papers in prestigious, refereed journals. Among the many awards she has received include the Lewis and Clark Fund for Field Research, the Student Research Award, the Rosemary Grant Award, the Graduate Student Research Award, the Provost Diversity Fellowship, the Betty Miller Francis Award three times, the Sustainable Biodiversity Fund, the Sigma Xi Research Grant twice as well as at least 7 others. Dr. Petipas has been recognized for her teaching and oral presentation skills with the Ecology and Evolution Teaching Award, the Robert H. Whittaker Award and the Book Award from Cornell University. During her career she has given 12 major presentations to scientists in the United States and Canada. Dr. Renee Petipas brings great distinction to the Petitpas family through her ground-breaking research on global change impacts to plant microbes and her outstanding skills in teaching.