Mtg: Aishwarya Veerabahu “Invasive Fungi in the Bigger Picture”

Invasive Fungi in the Bigger Picture Invasive species are a leading threat to biodiversity on Earth – the bulk of which is microbial. So why don’t we hear and think more about fungi as invasive and how they’re changing ecosystems? We’ll focus on the case study of invasive Golden Oyster Mushrooms (Pleurotus citrinopileatus), then go beyond to discuss other invasive fungi and have an open conversation about how we approach this issue in the greater context of our current, mushroom moment. I’ll try and keep it short to hear your thoughts and experiences with this topic! Aishwarya Veerabahu is a 4th year Botany PhD candidate, studying fungal ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, advised by Dr. Anne Pringle, with a PhD minor in Life Science Communication, advised by Dr. Dominique Brossard. She got her start studying plants and biochemistry in the chaparral hills of the University of California-Riverside, then fell in love with mushrooms in the remote Adirondack forests and mountains in upstate New York. She is broadly interested in studying fungal biodiversity, drivers of diversity, cross-kingdom interactions, science communication, and science policy concerning fungi (or the lack thereof!). When she’s not doing science, she’s jamming out with her band, Big Slide! (@bigslide4)