Biography

My research is focused on the diversity and biology of freshwater ascomycete fungi. This field is not well-studied due to the small number of researchers actively working on it. I am working on isolating and describing these fungi to contribute to the origins and diversity of this important ecological group. My research findings have significant implications for the study of biodiversity, phylogenetics, and taxonomic studies of the kingdom fungi. The cultures from my studies are being used for comparative phylogenetic and chemical studies. As part of my research, I am actively collecting more isolates from the field, characterizing them, and discovering and describing new taxa. Recently, I have been collaborating with natural product chemists to study the chemical mycology of freshwater fungi and fungal endophytes.