Eric DeChaine will visit us from Bellingham, Washington to present "The Promises and Pitfalls of Inventorying Fungi in Cascadia".    DeChaine is interested in the evolution and biogeography of arctic-alpine plants and fungi. He studies the effects of historic and future climates on the distribution and diversity of these organisms with the goal of identifying processes underlying speciation and endemism around the North Pacific Rim.

Dr. James Kronstad will present "Fungal threats to human health".  James Kronstad received his PhD in 1984 from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Washington. In 1989, he was recruited by Dr. Michael Smith (a founder of ZymoGenetics) to join the faculty of the Biotechnology Laboratory, and the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of British Columbia.  He was promoted to full professor in 1999 and was Director of the Michael Smith Laboratories (previously called the Biotechnology Laboratory) from 2008 to 2017. For the past 30 years, Dr. Kronstad’s research program has focused on understanding mechanisms of pathogenesis for fungi that attack plants and animals.  Recent contributions include collaborations on the genome projects for the cereal pathogen Ustilago maydis, the fungus Malassezia globosa (associated with skin diseases) and five strains of the AIDS-associated pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans.

Members' Night is returning after a brief hiatus in 2017. Instead of a single speaker presenting, we'll have several members giving mini-presentations on a fungal topic they're passionate about. Expect to hear about interesting projects, personal trips into the fungal unknown and maybe even some VMS history!