Pringle Laboratory Harvard University 16 Divinity Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138 617-496-9741

Anne was featured on the NPR program, All Things Considered, on February 8, 2007. Check out the interview, On the Trail of the Death Cap Mushroom!

• Anne Pringle at pringle[at]oeb.harvard.edu
  

  I am interested in all aspects of the research described at this site. Currently I am exploring how ecological forces shape fungal associations with plants, and I am also interested in fungal conservation biology and the biomechanics of fungal movements. Specific questions focus on how symbioses reform as fungi move across landscapes, the impacts of an invasive mushroom on local biodiversity, and the demography of modular speces.

• Benjamin E. Wolfe at bewolfe[at]fas.harvard.edu
  

  My main research interests are in the ecological and evolutionary links between aboveground and belowground biota. I am specifically interested in how plants and soil fungi interact in natural environments at the population- and community-levels of biological organization. I am also interested in human perceptions and valuations of the hidden biodiversity of soils.

• Celeste Peterson at cpeterson[at]oeb.harvard.edu

I have done work on the community ecology of bacteria using the carnivorous plants Sarracenia purpurea and understanding their geographic distribution. In parallel, I've studied the evolution of multicellular behavior of bacteria, using swarming motility in E. coli as a model system. I am currently based in the Laub Lab at MIT, and focus on bacterial dormancy and its influence on the population biology of Caulobacter crescentus.

• Primrose Boynton at pboynton[at]fas.harvard.edu

I'm interested in how fungal body size influences its ecology. For my dissertation research, I'm looking at how body size influences dispersal limitation and competition in groups of fungi, and how it alters ecological patterns across landscapes.

• Julie Shapiro at shapiro2[at]fas.harvard.edu

Harvard College class of 2010 In addition to general lab rat tasks, I am doing research on fungi in various caves of the Eastern US and the impact human activity has had on them.

• Marcus Roper at mroper[at]deas.harvard.edu

I am a fluid dynamicist interested in the physics of fungal spore launch and dispersal, particularly in ascomycetes. In addition to the Pringle group, I'm affiliated with the groups of Howard Stone and Michael Brenner in HSEAS. For more about Marcus, visit his SEAS webpage: www.seas.harvard.edu/~mroper

• Junling Zhang at junlingz[at]cau.edu.cn

My research focuses on the role of AM fungi in confering tolerance to plants experiencing abiotic and biotic stresses. Right now I am interested in fungal diversity and fungal intereactions with other soil microorganisms. Research will help us to understand the function of fungi in nature. I am a visiting scholar from China Agricultural Unveristy (www.cau.edu.cn/zihuan), and will stay in Anne's lab for one year.

• Karla Sartor at ksartor[at]fas.harvard.edu

My interests are in plant and fungal ecology, environmental science, and computer applications to support this research. I am currently a lab manager in the Pringle Lab, and a visiting scholar working with Kiona Ogle at the University of Wyoming, to develop a database of tree physiological and structural parameters for use in ecological modeling projects.

• Franck Richard at franck.richard[at]cefe.cnrs.fr

Franck moved to a position at the Universite de Montpellier (France) in December 2006. My research interests are the diversity, ecology and role of fungi in natural ecosystems. During my PhD at the University of Toulouse (France), I focused on forest ecosystems, investigating the diversity and the role of ectomycorrhizal fungi along secondary successions in Mediterranean forests. Now as a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Pringle Laboratory, my work addresses fungal fusion based on the Neurospora model on the one hand, and the symbiosis between the invasive species Amanita phalloides and North American forest trees on the other hand.

• Hugh Cross at hcross[at]oeb.harvard.edu

Hugh moved to a position with the Department for Environment and Heritage at the State Herbarium of South Australia in May 2008. I am interested in the evolution of plants and fungi and their distribution in space and time, particularly Pleistocene biogeography and how modern biotas were shaped by the last ice age and continue to be affected by humans. Here at the Pringle Lab I am developing techniques to co-extract fungi and plants from soils and other mixed substrates, as well as study the co-evolution of these symbiotic organisms. This continues from my previous research establishing an ancient DNA facility in Leiden, The Netherlands.

• Kristi Ann Fenstermacher at kfenster[at]fas.harvard.edu

Harvard College class of 2008 Kristi is spending the summer chasing lizards with the Losos Lab, and is likely to go to graduate school in near future.

• Jessica Soon Ok Worl at jworl[at]fas.harvard.edu

Harvard College class of 2008 After spending the summer in Cambridge, Jess will be joining the Peace Corps. She is likely to move to West Africa and her extension focus will be animal husbandry.

check back as the Pringle laboratory grows.