Dr. Robert Blanchette is a mycologist and plant pathologist whose groundbreaking work has reshaped how we understand fungi’s role in forest ecosystems.
Speaker Bio: Dr. Robert Blanchette
Bob Blanchette is a professor in the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of Minnesota where he teaches classes and carries out research on the biology and ecology of fungi that grow on and attack trees and wood. He has studied fungi around the globe, from Minnesota’s old growth temperate forests to the rainforests of the Amazon and Asia, as well as many investigations on fungi in the Arctic and Antarctic. He also has been involved with many ethnomycological investigations to understand better how Indigenous People from different parts of the world used forest fungi. A few of his current studies include investigating gigantic bioluminescent fungal networks in the Ecuadorian Amazon, using Minnesota fungi to control invasive exotic species such as the emerald ash borer (using insect pathogens) and buckthorn (using canker, wilt and root rot fungi), evaluating the fungi in the historic civil war ironclad gunboat – the USS Cairo, and the taxonomy of Ganoderma and other polypores.
Meeting Schedule:
7:00 – 7:30 Socializing, show and tell, and hangout time
7:30 – 9:00 Presentation
Zoom Stream:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89591461031?pwd=doNDPUTfMaBVMB17ETaFRniKXogBzT.1