Dr. Mary Lipton is a chemist with the Biomolecular Pathways team, an adjunct professor at Washington State University (WSU) Tri-Cities in Richland, and an adjunct professor for the Institute for Biological Chemistry at WSU in Pullman, Washington. She is internationally recognized for her research in the omics-based characterization of natural systems including microbes, microbial communities, plants, algae, fungi, and complete ecosystems. Her focus is specifically on the development and application new mass spectrometry-based technologies for the characterization of natural systems and ecosystems. An emerging area of interest is the use of stable isotope labels to track nutrient flux through biological systems and the tracing of respiration and metabolism in real time.