| Paula DePriest | |
| Birth Date: | 1957 |
| Nationality: | American |
| Fields: | lichenology |
| Workplaces: | National Museum of Natural History; Smithsonian Institution; Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute |
| Education: | Union University; University of Tennessee |
| Alma Mater: | Duke University |
| Thesis1 Url: | and |
| Thesis2 Url: | )--> |
| Awards: | Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science |
| Author Abbrev Bot: | DePriest |
| Partners: | )--> |
Paula DePriest is an American lichenologist and specialist in artefact conservation. She has been curator of the lichen collection at the National Museum of Natural History, USA and Deputy Director of the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute.[1]
Paula Teresa DePriest studied at Union University, completing her bachelor degree in 1978 and then moved to the University of Tennessee for a Masters degree in botany in 1983. She undertook doctoral research at Duke University and was awarded PhD in 1992.
She initially worked at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, USA and was appointed the curator of the lichen collection. Later in her career she was scientific advisor in the Office of the Under Secretary for Science at the Smithsonian Institution and then Deputy Director of the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute. She has also held posts as adjunct professor at Duke University (1997-2004) and George Mason University (1998-2004).
Her research focuses on lichens, particularly the phylogenetic and cultural relationships of those used as forage in reindeer herding regions of Mongolia, the Cladoniaceae. She also studies the deterioration of outdoor sculpture and monuments that can be caused by fungi and lichens and has worked in a project about deer stones in collaboration with the Mongolian Academy of Sciences.[2] Her work has identified or clarified the status of several lichens, including Flavoparmelia leucoxantha, Hypotrachyna quaesita, Punctelia dictyoidea and Punctelia roystoneae.[3] [4]
DePriest is the author or co-author of over 90 scientific publications and book chapters. The most significant include: