CMS Meeting – November 17, 2021
- When: Wednesday, November 17, 2021, at 7:00 pm
- Where: Live Stream on the CMS YouTube Channel (open and click to set a reminder)
After a forest fire comes through, often the first organism to reemerge are the fire following fungi. That they never appear before fires begs a host of questions. What purpose does this serve to the larger ecosystem? How do these fungi survive between fires? How does fire impact mycorrhizal fungi living in the soil? We are pleased to welcome US Forest Service botanist and mycologist Thea Chesney to speak to the issue and illuminate where we are in our understanding of this ecological niche and what still remains to be uncovered.
About the Speaker
Thea Chesney is a lifelong Sierra Nevada foothill resident and naturalist. Her childhood interest in local mushrooms, wildlife, and flora has transformed into an unending devotion to the natural world. She earned her BS in forestry from UC Berkeley while pursuing her passion for fungal taxonomy in the Berkeley mycology labs, and since then has spent her time exploring the California mountains and the organisms that call them home. She currently works for the Forest Service as a botanist on a long term, state-wide meadow monitoring project. She continues to be particularly fascinated by the plants and fungi of the Sierra Nevada and other mountains of California, and is currently working on a field guide to mushrooms of these understudied regions.
