What is it about fungi that make them an exciting conversation piece in today’s media, movies, and video games?
In this episode Anastasia chats Vanessa McPherson all about the natural history of fungi. 
Vanessa McPherson is a Research Assistant in the Environmental Microbiology and Molecular Analysis Laboratory in the School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University. This laboratory concentrates on the origins and dynamics of genetic diversity, and how such analyses can inform conservation, health, environmental management and evolutionary biology. Most of the core work in the laboratory examines microbial diversity in various environmental compartments.
During the COVID pandemic, the laboratory was closed, providing the opportunity to go back to fundamental natural history, exploring biological diversity in Sydney. Vanessa and her colleagues made multiple discoveries of rare and endangered species, eventually choosing to concentrate further research on a neglected group of fungi: the clubs and corals.
They are interested in why these fungi matter, and illustrating their incredible diversity. They have an ongoing research program, using DNA analyses to understand fungal distributions and identity. Their research shows that even in the urban-bushland environment at our doorstep, there are multiple species that are yet to be described.
You can contact Vanessa here: vanessa.mcpherson@mq.edu.au
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