Monika S. Fischer, Ph.D.
Coming Soon:
The Fischer Fire Fungi Lab @ the University of British Columbia
How do fungi interact with each other and their environment?
What are the mechanisms that drive the dynamic behavior of fungi following fire?
ABOUT ME
I am a fungal biologist passionate about understanding the molecular mechanisms that mediate interactions and drive ecological processes.
After high school I worked at a farm-to-table restaurant where I learned about, and fell in love with mycorrhizal fungi and the soil microbiome.
As an undergrad, I investigated fungal endophyte community diversity in invasive vs. native plants, while also exploring the evolutionary reason for quorum sensing in the bacterium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
In graduate school, I used the model fungus Neurospora crassa to determine the genetic mechanisms that mediate cell-to-cell communication and self/non-self recognition.
Now as a postdoc, I am using both broad community ecology approaches and targeted laboratory experiments to investigate post-fire microbial interactions, community dynamics, and metabolism.
I am building a research program that straddles both genetics/molecular biology and environmental ecology, with a focus on fungi.
monikaf@berkeley.edu