Today we get an auditory transport to Hawaii to sit down with Nicole Hynson to chat about the fungal biodiversity of Hawaii. We focus on the importance of mycorrhizal fungi on the island and the relationship between these rare tropical plants and their fungal allies. We end the episode talking about how to inspire young kids to get excited about mushrooms and how to best teach kids in our school systems.

Dr. Nicole Hynson is a Professor in the Pacific Biosciences Research Center at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. There, she teaches mycology and ecology as well as runs a research lab. The focus of her group's research is the ecology and evolution of symbiotic fungi. They are particularly interested in defining "rules of life" for microbial communities. Another focus of their work is endangered plant species conservation through a better understanding of plant-microbe interactions, including the mycorrhizal symbiosis between plants and root-inhabiting fungi. Nicole has been classically trained as a mycologist since her time as an undergraduate at the Evergreen State College under the tutelage of Dr. Michael Beug, she received her PhD from University of California Berkeley where she studied mycoheterotrophy in the lab of Dr. Tom Bruns, after which she worked in the lab of Dr. Kathleen Treseder at UC Irvine on fungal ecosystem ecology before starting her lab at the University of Hawaiʻi in 2012. Her favorite part of her job is getting students excited about fungi in the hopes of training the next generation of mycologists.

You can learn more about theirr work here: https://hynsonlab.com/ and here: https://www.c-maiki.org/

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