Fungal Symbioses

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My lab researches the ecology, evolution, and continuum of fungal symbioses. 

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All relationships exist along a continuum. Even symbioses, which we tend to think of in positive terms, are long term and physically intimate relationships that can range from parasitism to mutualism. 

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Many factors, including the identity of the partners, the climate, nutrient availability, and other abiotic and biotic interactions, can influence where a relationship falls along the symbiosis continuum, and it can change throughout the lifetime of the organisms involved.

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We aim to discover the many factors that influence the symbiosis continuum of fungi in relationship to their photosynthetic partners and their myco- and microbiomes, and the ways in which these relationships will change, or even lead to dysbiosis, under global climate change.