WELCOME TO THE CENTER FOR INTEGRATED FUNGAL RESEARCH
The goal of the Center for Integrated Fungal Research (CIFR) is to integrate all aspects of fungal research including environmental and climate initiatives, disease, agriculture, evolution, mathematical modeling, genomics and bioinformatics, and to translate knowledge from fundamental research to stakeholders, the general public, and the scientific community. CIFR will promote education and understanding of the relative contribution of global biodiversity to the beneficial and deleterious activities of fungi.
Marc Cubeta recently developed an online “Why Mushroom grown in my Yard (Sometimes) video for the North Carolina State University Extension Homegrown series. This series provides educational information on timely topics to non-traditional audiences across the state (particularly for younger families in urban and suburban settings) to help address their interests and needs!
Marc Cubeta, students from his laboratory and Introduction to Mycology (PP575) class, and colleague Dr. Henry Van Cotter, participated in the recent Darwin Days event at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences on November 13, 2021. They organized an educational outreach exhibit entitled “Fungi and animals: an evolutionary history” to provide visitors with information on the diversity and evolution of fungi, their interactions with animals and importance to society. More than 1800 visitors eager to learn about fungi attended this exhibit. The next Darwin Days event will focus primarily on fungi and is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, November 12, 2022. We invite you to join us and participate in our next public science education event on fungal biology and evolution.
Our newest CIFR faculty member, Marcela Rojas-Pierce and her postdoctoral fellow, Mengying Wang, are studying how microgravity affect plant cellular processes at the International Space Station, with funding from the North Carolina Space Grant. Read all about their exciting research adventure HERE.
Shuijin Hu has been named a 2021 Fellow of the Ecological Society of America. The announcement is posted HERE. Congratulations Shuijin!!!
Congratulations to Marc Cubeta who is serving as the 89th president of the Mycological Society of America! The announcement can be found HERE.
Ralph Dean has a new partnership with SAS and Microsoft, through the Plant Sciences Initiative (PSI) to develop small sensors that can perceive volatile organic compounds and detect plant diseases. Read more about this exciting collaboration HERE.
Congratulations to Christine Hawks for receiving a $1.4M grant from NSF to study the effect of droughts on soil microbes. The announcement can be found in CALS news.
Congratulations to Kevin Garcia for receiving a $740,000 grant from the USDA to study how symbiotic root fungi help legumes get potassium. The announcement can be found in CALS news.
Learn how we are working to explore the diverse roles of fungi in the biosphere.
Learn how we plan to model, predict and manage the consequences of environmental impacts on microbes and microbial processes.
Learn more about CIFR faculty members and opportunities for interdisciplinary research and training.
