Spend an exciting day digging deeper into the world of fungi at our conference
Time & Date: 9am-3:30pm, Sunday the 11th of June 2023
Location: Euroa Community Conference Centre at Memorial Oval, corner Slee and Dunn Street, Euroa
Cost: $50
Ticket link: Click here
Further Information: admin@strathbogieranges.org or phone Helen McKernan on 0414310438
Spend an exciting day with experts and researchers – mycologists, ecologists, botanists and generally fabulously interesting people. They will take you into the world of fungi to explore their complex relationships with plants, animals and fire in natural ecosystems.
Read more below to find out about the presenters and the topics they will address at the conference.
Presenters
Dr Alison Pouliot
Curry Punk & Jelly Brain
Although little known, the roots of almost every plant in the Australian landscape are intimately entwined with fungi. These clandestine relationships extend beyond trees to include every orchid and most shrubs and grasses. Symbioses are the secret to success in our highly variable climate and nutrient-deficient soils.
Fungi not only help plants access water and nutrients, but also increase their resistance to drought and disease. They build architecture in soils, aerate them, and allow water to gently percolate to deeper horizons. Despite this, ‘the third F’ slips through ideas about nature and conservation that focus on flora and fauna. Unruly fungal renegades contravene the frameworks we use to understand life. However, they might also inspire the innovative thinking needed to navigate an uncertain future.
In this illustrated and interactive seminar Alison will share insights from two decades spent in the field with fungi, both locally and across hemispheres, with Curry Punk and Jelly Brain as companions.
Dr Alison Pouliot is an ecologist with a passion for fungi. Her journeys in search of fungi span northern and southern hemispheres, ensuring two autumns and a double dose of fungi each year. As a scientist, Alison explores the natural world through an empirical lens. As someone who roams the forest daily, she relates to it with an aesthetic and sensory appreciation; a natural history of experience. Alison draws on both worldviews to stir a broader public consciousness in the way we relate to the forests, fungi and all life. Alison is author of The Allure of Fungi, Underground Lovers and co-author of Wild Mushrooming.
Dr Camille Truong
The wood-wide web – a story too good for its own good?
The basic idea that trees are connected underground, via networks of fungi that nestle into roots, has breached the walls of science and seeped into the popular culture, from movies to TV shows, books and magazines. Even people who know almost nothing about trees know that trees talk to each other to swap resources and chemicals, send warning signals, and more. But are these claims supported by scientific evidence? Is the story too good to be true? And more importantly, how does it influence the way we conserve and restore our native forests?
Dr Camille Truong is a mycologist and research scientist at the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria and Honorary Senior Fellow at the University of Melbourne. In 2022 Camille was awarded the 2022 Maxwell/Hanrahan Award in Field Biology as a recognition of her work in understanding and conserving fungi in native forests worldwide. Her cutting edge research combines fieldwork with modern genomic methods to describe new species, their interactions with plants and animals, and the ecological role that fungal diversity plays in in forest soils.
Aviya Naccarella
Fungi the missing puzzle piece – what role might fungus-feeding mammals play in ecosystem function?
Fungus-feeding mammals are ecosystem engineers playing an important role in our landscapes by dispersing beneficial fungi – creating a 3-way interaction between mammals, fungi, and plants. Disentangling interactions between mammals, fungi and plants is key to understanding what ecosystem processes have been lost when we lose mammals from our landscapes.
Aviya is an ecologist with an interest in ecosystem processes. Her research is cross-disciplinary, and her passion lies in bringing together researchers, land managers and communities to work towards common conservation goals. Aviya’s PhD at Deakin University focuses on understanding ecological interactions between mammals, plants, and fungi. Her research explores how we apply this knowledge to conservation projects aimed at restoring ecosystem function.
Emily McIntyre
The role of the potoroo in dispersing fungi and influencing regeneration. Despite the essential role that hypogeous fungi and mycophagous mammals play in maintaining ecosystem health, we are still learning about the complexities of their relationship. Emily’s research explores the role of the potoroo, an obligate mycophagist, in dispersing fungi, and the influences of this interaction on seedling growth and regeneration after disturbance.
Emily McIntyre is a graduate of a Masters of Ecosystem Management and Conservation, where her thesis examined the effect of biotic and environmental variables on soil fungi across an elevational gradient. She is currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Melbourne, where she is exploring the role of potoroos in fungal dispersal in southeastern Australia. She is also currently working with MYCOmmunity to investigate the effect of storm damage on soil fungi within Wombat Forest. She is most interested in learning about the interactions fungi have with plants, animals, and abiotic factors, to better understand how ecosystems function.
Professor Alan York
Presentation: Fungi, Fire and Fauna
Alan is a Professorial Fellow within the Fire Ecology and Biodiversity Research Group within the School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences at the University of Melbourne. This research group investigates the interactions between fire, landscape pattern and biodiversity. Their research aims towards a better understanding of how disturbance regimes alter the nature and spatial pattern of resources, and how plants and animals respond to these changes. An increased appreciation of these interactions will assist land managers in developing ‘best practice’; ensuring fire management strategies are ecologically sustainable. Alan has been involved in applied fire ecology research for over 30 years; working primarily in universities and State research agencies in NSW and Victoria.
Alan is a Professorial Fellow in the Fire Ecology and Biodiversity Research Group within the School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences at the University of Melbourne. This research group investigates the interactions between fire, landscape pattern and biodiversity. Their research aims towards a better understand how disturbance regimes alter the nature and spatial pattern of resources, and how plants and animals respond to these changes. An increased appreciation of these interactions will assist land managers in developing ‘best practice’; ensuring fire management strategies are ecologically sustainable. Alan has been involved in applied fire ecology research for over 35 years; working primarily in universities and State research agencies in NSW and Victoria.
Dr Marc Freestone
Presentation: Invisible fungi and how they save endangered orchids from extinction
Marc will discuss orchid mycorrhizal fungi and how understanding them is helping the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria Orchid Conservation Program to grow and conserve some of our most endangered and beautiful native orchid species, including local species from around Euroa.
Marc Freestone is a botanist with over 10 years experience as an ecological consultant and scientist, and currently works for the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria Orchid Conservation Program. He recently completed a PhD with the Australian National University studying the mycorrhizal fungi that live with leek orchids (Prasophyllum species), discovering that understanding these fungi was the key to working out how to grow these endangered orchids. He has previously worked with both state and federal governments and has authored a wide range of scientific papers on mycorrhizal fungi, orchid ecology and conservation, pollination biology and fire ecology. Marc is an expert on the ecology and conservation of leek orchids and is a member of the IUCN Orchid Specialist Group.