News

New Publication

November 12, 2021

Luis Quijada, Donald Pfister and colleagues in Spain and Germany have a new publication in the journal, Fungal Systematics and Evolution (FUSE): "Wanted on Agave americana! Hymenobolus agaves, an overlooked introduced pathogen in the western palearctic region."

Abstract

Hymenobolus agaves has been reported only in Europe and Africa on the American plant Agave...

New publication - Methods for observing, culturing, and studying living ascospores

August 20, 2021

Methods for observing, culturing, and studying living ascospores, a new publication from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Farlow Reference Library and Herbarium of Cryptogamic Botany aims to provide researchers with "standardized, accurate, and thorough morphological characterization of living ascospores." (Karakehian JM, Quijada L, Pfister DH, Tocci G, Miller AN 2021 – Methods for observing, culturing, and studying living ascospores. Asian Journal of Mycology 4(2), 1–18, Doi 10.5943/ajom/4/2/1)

Read the full paper here: ...

Congratulations to James Mitchell on his successful thesis defense!

May 12, 2021

Congratulations to Pfister Lab member James Mitchell on the succesful defense of his thesis: "Investigations into Resinicolous Fungi"! Abstract of his thesis is below. Image Credit: J. Mitchell via iNaturalist.

Abstract: Fungi growing on resin have been known since the description of Helotium aureum by Christiaan Hendrik Persoon in 1801. The majority of the fungi described since then are known from extant conifer resins, though a handful are known from angiosperm resins and various fossilized resins. For the most part, these species are not well...

New Publication

November 5, 2020

Mortality of native and invasive ladybirds co-infected by ectoparasitic and entomopathogenic fungi was recently published in Zoological Science. Check out our publications page for more information and a link to the article. Read more about New Publication

Mycological Society of America Poster Presentation

July 29, 2020

Liam Nokes, a Student Assistant in the Pfister Lab, presented a poster entitled: "Exploration of marine lichenized fungi as bioindicators of coastal ocean pollution in the Boston Harbor Islands National Park" at the Mycological Society of America's "MSA 2020: Mycology from the Cloud" virtual conference. The poster was co-authored by Donald Pfister. Click here to... Read more about Mycological Society of America Poster Presentation

"Fantastic Funga: Why Language Matters" Blog Post

July 15, 2020

"Fantastic Funga: Why Language Matters" by Donald Pfister was recently featured on the North American Mycoflora Project's Deep Funga Blog. Read the article here.

2019 Fabulous Fungus Fair

October 28, 2019

Students in OEB 54 “The Biology of Fungi” class led hands-on activities as part of the Fabulous Fungus Fair at the Harvard Museum of Natural History on Saturday October 26, 2019. Visitors to the museum were treated to a closer look at the mushrooms, yeasts, and molds found in gardens, forests, labs—even in our own refrigerators.!

New Special Glass Flowers Exhibit - Fruits of Decay

September 11, 2019

Fruits in Decay, a new special exhibit in the Glass Flowers gallery at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, explores blight, rot, and other diseases on summer fruits. It features exquisitely detailed glass botanical models of strawberries, peaches, apricots, plums, and pears made by famed glass artist Rudolf Blaschka.

The Glass Flowers Team, Jennfier Brown, Collection Manager, Ware Collection of Blaschka Glass Models of Plants,...

Dr. Pfister and Dr. Sharon Cantrell, 2018-2019 president of MSA

Prof. Don Pfister receives Distinguished Mycologist Award

August 20, 2019

At the annual Mycological Society of America (MSA) meeting this week, Asa Gray Professor of Systematic Botany and Curator of the Farlow Library and Herbarium, Donald Pfister, was presented with The Distinguished Mycologist Award. Intended to recognize individuals with a distinguished career in the field of mycology, the award is one of the highest honors given by the MSA. Professor Pfister has most certainly had a distinguished career and we are all so proud of him and this very well-deserved honor. Congratulations, Don!

You can read more about Professor Pfister’s career in...

2019 Great Walden BioBlitz

July 16, 2019

Staff and students from the Pfister Lab and the Herbaria participated in the 2019 Great Walden BioBlitz on July 6, 2019. The BioBlitz, an event co-sponsored by The Walden Woods Project, Minute Man National Historical Park, and the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation, was held in celebration of Dr. E.O. Wilson’s 90th birthday. The BioBlitz took place within a five-mile radius...