The Importance of Fungi in Arizona Ecosystems: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

08/19/2026 12:30 PM - 02:00 PM MT

Admission

  • $20.00  -  Member Price
  • $30.00  -  Nonmember Price

Location

Summary

Often called the hidden kingdom, fungi are often invisible but critically important members of Arizona ecosystems. This presentation will highlight ways that fungi benefit plants and soil, the harm that fungi can cause to iconic plant species, and common signs of fungal activity even when the fungi themselves cannot be readily observed.

Description

Catherine (Kitty) Gehring is Regents Professor of Biological Sciences at Northern Arizona University (NAU). She began her education more interested in animals than plants or fungi. She majored in Zoology as an undergraduate at Colorado State University and studied birds for her master’s degree at Indiana University. Dr. Gehring shifted to studies of plants and fungi during her PhD at NAU and went on to study rainforest-fungal-animal interactions as a post-doc in Australia before returning to NAU as a faculty member. She and her students use a combination of field studies, greenhouse and lab experiments and molecular analyses to understand how plant-associated fungi and their hosts interact in both basic and applied contexts. While interested in almost anything about fungi, her recent research has shifted towards understanding if/when/how fungi can help plants in a rapidly changing world.