CMS Meeting Thursday, January 8, 2015: Speaker Alija Bajro Mujic
For the first meeting of the year, Alija Bajro Mujic will present his PhD research upon the false truffle genus Rhizopogon and its unique symbiosis with trees in genus Pseudotsuga (Douglas Fir). This talk will share the stories and the results gathered during 5 years of international and domestic field work in Pseudotsuga forests throughout the Pacific Rim. Together we will travel from Oregon to the balmy highlands of eastern Asia, the windswept chaparral of southern California, forested sky islands of the southwestern deserts, and the volcanic massifs of central Mexico. The results of this work reveal patterns of comigration and coevolution between Rhizopogon and Pseudotsuga which share a history of the close association. This knowledge and its conservation implications will help to “complete the circle” of migration these genera have made around the northern Pacific Rim.
Meet at 7:00 pm, room 115, Science Building (Building 16) at Lane Community College in Eugene. There will be a mushroom show and tell identification session prior to the speaker. Bring what’s in your basket, edible or not, and learn from the experienced members of our community. The talk is free and open to the public.
Speaker Bio:
Mr. Alija Bajro Mujic
Alija Bajro Mujic is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology at Oregon State University. Alija’s interest in Fungi was first cultivated through foraging as a member of the Santa Cruz Fungus Federation while he was completing his bachelor’s degrees at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
After undergraduate study, Alija found employment as a restoration ecologist where his interests in mycorrhizal fungi and conservation deepened and grew. These interests led Alija to pursue graduate study where he strives to develop a better understanding of mycorrhizal symbioses and their roles within forest ecology and conservation.
You can find more information about Alija and his work at http://plaza.ufl.edu/alija.mujic/
