Heather Dawson – 2024 Scholarship Recipient
CMS was delighted to receive a Scholarship submission from Heather Dawson. Heather has been a CMS member since 2021 and recently delighted us with her presentation on the Diversity of Truffles she finds with her Truffle dog Rye. Heather was both passionate and knowledgeable about the subject. Plus, what audience can resist Rye?
When we reviewed her submission we were even more excited. Anyone who has a love of fungi knows how under studied they have been in the past compared to plants and animals. According to the latest Kew State of the Worlds Fungi Report, we have an immense task ahead to understand exactly how many fungal species exist, where they are located, and what environmental factors affect them. It is extraordinary young researchers like Heather that are making valuable contributions towards answering these questions about fungi.
The CMS Board of Directors unanimously voted on March 7, 2024 to grant Heather a scholarship. While we were at it, we decided that current CMS funding levels would allow us to provide Heather with a $2000 scholarship rather than the $1000 we have provided in the past. Pictured right is Heather receiving her first $1000 check. She will receive the remainder when she returns to CMS to present the results of her research project.
Below is the abstract for Heather’s research proposal titled “Truffles of Willamette Valley oak savanna: assessing the response of hypogeous fungi to the re-introduction of fire”. You may read the full proposal here.
Research Proposal Abstract
Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana) savanna in the Pacific Northwest has been
nearly extirpated due to agricultural expansion and fire suppression. Oak trees form extensive
ectomycorrhizal (EcM) partnerships, depending on fungal symbionts for vital nutrients.1 Many
EcM fungi fruit underground, forming hypogeous fruiting bodies (truffles). This polyphyletic
group of fungi is critically understudied in these sensitive savanna ecosystems, in part due to the
difficulty in finding underground fungi. Fire is being re-introduced as a management tool to
restore some of the highly fragmented remaining patches of oak savanna in the Willamette
Valley, but its effects on the trees’ fungal symbionts is unknown. Based on the historical fire
regime and earlier observations from surveys in burned and unburned oak habitat, I hypothesize
that truffle fungi are largely fire-tolerant and most truffle fungi found in unburned habitat will
also be present in recently burned habitat. I will use three different survey methods in burned and
unburned oak savanna to examine the effects that fire has on truffle fungi: collection of mature
sporocarps using my trained truffle dog, collection and DNA sequencing of rodent mycophagist
fecal pellets, and environmental DNA sequencing of soil samples and oak root tips.
Below are the answers to pertinent questions submitted by Heather as part of her Freeman Rowe Scholarship application.
Professional Goals and Interests
I have long dreamed of working with fungi, but was always unsure how to make that happen. When I graduated from the University of Oregon in 2020 with a BS in Environmental Science, I was looking for any job that would allow me to work outdoors and gain experience with natural systems and conservation. The jobs that I was applying for through the US government were few and far between, especially with the ongoing pandemic. Finally, in March 2022, I landed an incredible opportunity to work as a research assistant on a large macrofungal distribution project led by Bitty Roy. Looking back, I can’t quite believe how much I have learned in the two years that I have been a part of this project, and to say that it shaped my path and future goals is an understatement. While I will always be most at home in the field and currently spend all my free time hunting for truffle diversity, I have found that my interests lie in the molecular side of fungal research. Fungal barcoding and the subsequent taxonomic puzzles and phylogenetic analyses provide endless possibilities for discovery. To say that there is work to be done on fungal taxonomy is an understatement, and an even bigger understatement when applied to my fungal group of choice, the hypogeous truffle fungi. Following my Master’s degree, I plan to continue working in this area and aim to unravel many mycological mysteries that are as of yet unanswered.
What is your Interest in Fungi?
My first experience with fungi began as an infant, as my parents continually remind me of the struggles they had in preventing me from eating every mushroom I saw in our patch of McKenzie Bridge forest. When I was eleven I was gifted an Audubon Society field guide to mushrooms and spent hours poring over the beautiful mushrooms that I dreamed of seeing in person. When I read that fungi were more closely related to the animal kingdom than they were to plants, I refused to eat anything with mushrooms in it. Today, mushrooms are a regular feature in my meals, and I get immense joy from collecting new, exciting scientific specimens. Anyone who knows about my interests with fungi knows about my obsession with truffles, and thanks to my truffle diversity dog, I am treated to seeing a wider range of truffle species than any amateur like myself could have ever dreamed of. Truffles are the ultimate buried treasure, and while I do enjoy finding culinary truffles, nothing compares to the thrill of finding a species I have never encountered before, and species that I know to be truly rare. Through the truffles that my dog finds I have learned an incredible amount about truffle diversity, and have made valuable connections with experts in the field of mycology. Working as a research assistant on a fungal distribution study has provided me with invaluable experience learning about mycology and fungal research, and has given me the tools and skills I need to carry out my own truffle research project.
The first State of the World’s Fungi was published in 2018 by the Kew Institute. The aim of the report was to establish a baseline for fungal conservation and research. The report stated there are 144,000 species of fungi known, with 2000 being added to the list each year. However, that baseline is rather fuzzy. They also estimate there are between 2.2 and 3.8 million fungi out there. That means we know of about 5% of the species at the moment. And at that rate it’ll take about another thousand years to find them all.
