2023 Past Lectures
March 16/ Justine Karst:
DECAY OF THE WOOD WIDE WEB
Justine Karst grew up in western Canada and was curious about forests from childhood on. From that curiosity, she completed a PhD in mycorrhizal ecology and, in 2016, joined the faculty at the University of Alberta, where she is Associate Professor. For the past 20 years, she has studied the mycorrhizal ecology of forests with a preference for the boreal region. She is currently Vice President of the International Mycorrhiza Society.
The ‘wood-wide web’ has captured the interest of broad audiences. Common mycorrhizal networks, namely fungi that physically link roots of different trees together, are purported to be widespread and mediate transfer of resources and signals from trees to seedlings in forests. In this talk, I challenge popular claims about the function of common mycorrhizal networks in forests and highlight the misinformation that has developed in recent years.
Justine also shared the link to her paper:
March 2/ Donald Pfister:
THE USES OF HERBARIA/FUNGARIA
Using examples from research that has been done on specimens from the Farlow fungarium I will outline how these specimens contribute to modern taxonomic and systematic studies and how curatorial practices contribute to or distract from accurate study of collections. How was it possible to determine that a species suspected to be extinct was found to be widespread in eastern North America? What can collections tell us about the high and unexpected diversity of species of an often-collected genus of tropical fungi? Where was Charles Wright when he collected Puccinia triarticulata and how did he get there? These and other questions will be examined through the eye of a long serving curator.
March 2/ Donald Pfister:
THE USES OF HERBARIA/FUNGARIA
Using examples from research that has been done on specimens from the Farlow fungarium I will outline how these specimens contribute to modern taxonomic and systematic studies and how curatorial practices contribute to or distract from accurate study of collections. How was it possible to determine that a species suspected to be extinct was found to be widespread in eastern North America? What can collections tell us about the high and unexpected diversity of species of an often-collected genus of tropical fungi? Where was Charles Wright when he collected Puccinia triarticulata and how did he get there? These and other questions will be examined through the eye of a long serving curator.
Feb. 16 / Rosanne Healy:
DISHING ON THE CUP FUNGI: THE PEZIZALES & THEIR VARIED LIFESTYLES
Rosanne will talk about her travels and work to better understand the relationships, ecology, and life history of the group of fungi that we know as “the cup fungi”. These are the fungi that include the famous black Perigord truffle, delectable morels, and iconic scarlet cups. They also include many lesser known, but fascinating truffles and cup-shaped, columniform, and saddle-shaped fungi. Rosanne has traveled and worked with Don Pfister and a team of truffle mycologists for twenty five years, tracking down data to help fill in the natural history of truffles and cup fungi, to better understand how they are related, what their ecologies are, and how their ancestors moved around to where they are now.
Feb. 2 / Madeline DeDe-Panken:
GATHERING KNOWLEDGE: MYCOPHILIA IN AMERICAN CULTURE AT THE TURN OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Tracing popular mushroom foraging to the 1880s, this talk will discuss an early iteration of American mycophilia which brought a new population of non-professional mushroomers into the field. Like today, they sought a combination of gastronomic, scientific and personal enrichment. I argue that the mushroom fad legitimized women’s participation in citizen science by tethering foraging knowledge to elevated, economical cookery and as a public safety necessity to prevent poisoning. Enthusiastic laywomen claimed space and belonging as collectors, writers, illustrators, and club leaders. Yet while expanding opportunities for some, privileged mycologists’ insistence on certain forms of expertise fueled exclusion along class, race and ethnic lines. Ultimately, this research seeks to elucidate tensions surrounding sustenance, science and authority that remain with us to this day.
Jan. 1 / Kenneth Kassenbrock, MD, PhD:
“MAGIC” MUSHROOMS AND PSILOCYBIN:FROM MESOAMERICAN PREHISTORY TO CURRENT CLINICAL TRIALS
NAMA recorded it, and has kindly opened the recording to non-members