Research interests
I am a plant scientist with a background in natural history, having started out as a field bryologist. I am interested in land plant evolution, development, and fungal interactions with bryophytes. I currently work in the Carella group at the John Innes Centre (UK) on evolutionary plant–microbe interactions, attempting to bring together my background in bryophilous fungi with cutting-edge techniques in the lab.
While I am interested in all bryophilous fungi, my focus is on ascomycetes that express sexual reproductive stages on their hosts. I have three streams of long-term, independent research that I conduct in my own time.
- Bryophilous ascomycetes of Britain and Ireland: floristic studies, species accounts, distribution patterns. – this website is something of a draft ahead of publishing a comprehensive flora, which will take a lot of time.
- Taxonomy and systematics of bryophilous Sordariomycetes, Eurotiomycetes and Leotiomycetes worldwide: morpho-molecular biology. – my taxonomic focus at the moment has been on these little-studied groups, particularly on Leotiomycetes such as Bryoscyphus.
- Diversity, evolution and function of bryophyte-fungal interactions: influences of fungi on bryophyte development. – I have long been interested in how some fungi can alter host development to make galls, but also in how infection by one fungus may exclude other fungi.
Note: this website is a summary of largely unpublished observations – there will be errors and omissions. It aims to serve as a gallery of information rather than a definitive, reviewed guide. Identifications should always be checked in the primary literature.
Acknowledgements: thank you to everybody who has contributed, both towards the website and also species identification, fieldwork and discussion over the years. It has been and continues to be a great journey. Special thanks to Dr Peter Döbbeler, without whom I would never have managed to contribute towards this exciting field of bryo-mycology.
Bryophilous fungi 