NightSchool: Fungi Underground

Beneath the soil is a vast underground network of mycorrhizal fungi that’s unseen by humans, but crucial to thriving forests. From nutrient exchanges and complex warning systems, learn more about the fascinating relationship between plants and the fungi that support them.

• How do plants and fungi interact, and why does it matter? Dr. Kabir Peay, Associate Professor of Biology at Stanford, digs into how mycorrhizal fungi shape the distribution of trees across the planet, and how they’ll play a role in forest resiliency in the face of climate change.
• Buried deep below farms are intricate networks of symbiotic fungi that provide a myriad of benefits to agricultural crops. Dr. Aidee Guzman, a postdoctoral fellow at UC Irvine, talks about the opportunities to harness these fungi for healthy soils—and healthy plants.
• While it’s widely known that mammals help disperse truffle spores, little is known about how birds play a role. But in the rainforests of southern Chile, they do: Dr. Marcos Vinicius Caiafa Sepulveda, a fungal ecologist at UC Riverside, is exploring how the truffle diet of certain bird species is boosting the health of their forest home.

All NightLife virtual programming is intended for audiences 21+.

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