Rachel Pfister received her Ph.D. in Plant Sciences from the University of Arizona in 1999. She also received a Master's degree from the University of Arizona's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in 1989. She teaches Plant Anatomy and Morphology, the undergraduate Plant Physiology Lecture and Laboratory course, the Senior Capstone course and coordinates the discussion sections for the Tier One Natural Sciences course, Plants and Our World. Her research interests include plant water relations, salt-tolerance and wood vascular anatomy.

After many years in the School of Plant Sciences, Rachel Pfister retired in 2009.