Category: News

Congratulations to Dr. Ko-Hsuan Chen for successfully defending her doctoral dissertation at Duke University, Lutzoni Lab.  Her dissertation is entitled “Evolution of fungal endophytes and their functional transitions between endophytism and saprotrophism.”

Jade was awarded The Excellence in Plant Science Prize, which is given each year by the Plant Science faculty at the graduation ceremony in recognition of excellence in botanical research. Jade’s honor thesis was entitled “Patterns of symbiotic associations between Peltigera and Nostoc along a latitudinal transect crossing the circumboreal belt.”

Ko-Hsuan Chen was award a NSF DDIG for her proposal entitled “Assessing the Importance of Trophic Lability for Fungal Endophytism Using the Moss Dicranum scoparium and its Associated Fungi.” Well done Ko-Hsuan!!!

Nicolas Magain and collaborators published in Systematic Biology one of the core studies of Nicolas’ doctoral research in the Sérusiaux and Lutzoni labs.

Magain, N., Miadlikowska, J., Goffinet, B., Sérusiaux, E., and Lutzoni. F. 2017. Macroevolution of specificity in cyanolichens of the genus Peltigera section Polydactylon (Lecanoromycetes, Ascomycota). Systematic Biology 66:74-99.

Ester Gaya and collaborators published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences one of the core studies she conducted as a postdoctoral researcher in the Lutzoni lab, which was funded by a Fulbright fellowship and NSF.

Gaya, E., Fernández-Brime, S., Vargas, R., Lachlan, R. F., Gueidan, C., Ramírez-Mejía, M., Lutzoni, F. 2015. The adaptive radiation of lichen-forming Teloschistaceae is associated with sunscreening pigments and a bark-to-rock substrate shift. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112: 11600-11605.

Ko-Hsuan Chen is the recipient of a Graduate Fellowship from the Mycological Society of America (MSA). The MSA Graduate Fellowships are awarded annually to promising graduate students in mycology. Applicants are evaluated on the basis of their scholastic merit, research ability and promise shown as a mycologist. Ko-Hsuan officially received this award at the annual meeting of the Mycological Society of America, which took place in Edmonton, Canada, July 25-29, 2015.

Nicolas completed his Ph.D. in November of 2014 at Université de Liège in Belgium.  As a postdoctoral researcher in the Lutzoni Lab, he will be continuing his evolutionary and taxonomic study of the genus Peltigera.  Progressively, he will  be transitioning to a project focusing on the evolution of alternative nitrogenases found in cyanolichens, using genomic methods.

Congratulations to Dr. Nicolas Magain for successfully defending his thesis at Université de Liège, Belgium.  His dissertation is entitled “Integrating photobiont phylogenetic and geographical data in macroevolutionary studies of lichens: case studies in the Peltigerales.”

Tami McDonald was the recipient of the Mason Hale Award from the International Association for Lichenology (IAL) for the best Ph.D. thesis in lichenology completed between August 1, 2011 and January, 31, 2014.  The award was announced at the 10th International Mycological Congress (IMC10) in Bangkok, Thailand.  Thesis title: Genomic insights into the evolution and development of the lichen symbiosis: Cladonia grayi as a model lichen.

Ko-Hsuan (Koko) Chen (Ph.D. student) was one of the recipients of the best poster awards at the 10th International Mycological Congress (IMC10), Bangkok, Thailand. The title of her poster was “Phylogenetic analyses of eurotiomyceteous endophytes reveal their close affinities to Chaetothyriales, Eurotiales and a new order – Phaeomoniellales.”