Research
My group’s research interests include fungal systematics, species recognition, historical biogeography, taxonomy of mushroom-forming fungi, and fungal interactions with plants. We do a lot of field work!

We use field specimens and natural history collections of mushroom-forming fungi to investigate their systematic and evolutionary relationships. We reconstruct molecular phylogenies to test classifications, species concepts, and patterns of diversification. We are also interested in the evolution of the ectomycorrhizal (ECM) symbiosis, an important ecological feature, and how this trait has influenced biogeographic distributions and speciation patterns of the fungi involved. Research in our lab also focuses on the identification and taxonomic revision of selected groups of Agaricomycetes. We have done field work throughout North America, especially in the southern Appalachians, and in Australasia and southern South America.