Hyphal Bridges Over the Pacific
IRENE BARNES
MSA/MSJ Joint Meeting, 30 July – 4 August 2005, Hilo, Hawai’i, University of Hawai’i.
The annual Mycological Society of America meeting was held this year in conjunction with the meeting of the Mycological Society of Japan, which is currently celebrating its 50th anniversary. The apt theme for this joint congress was “Hyphal Bridges Over the Pacific” and the venue: the exotically beautiful island of Hilo, Hawai’i.
Four representatives from FABI were privileged to be able to attend this meeting. Accompanying Prof Brenda Wingfield were two of her Ph.D. students, Lieschen De Vos and Irene Barnes who both received Mellon grants to attend the conference. Irene is a PhD student whose research is supported through the DST/NRF Centre of Excellence in Tree Health Biotechnology (CTHB). In addition Elsie de Meyer, an MSc student of Prof. Mike Wingfield, also joined the group and this was her first ever, overseas trip. FABI’s contribution to the congress included three oral presentations and six poster presentations. At the evening awards ceremony, Irene Barnes was awarded the W. C. Denison MSA Mentor Student Travel Grant. Irene successfully leads the Mentoring Programme in the CTHB where ten students are mentored by eight mentors.
The conference commenced on the Saturday with a pre-conference foray to Lava Tree State Park and Mackenzie Park. Busloads of eager mycologists could be seen foraging through the natural forests in search for the exotic and unknown fungal species. This was together with their marvelling at the larva tree moulds and trying not to fall down the larva tubes amidst the beautiful tree ferns, orchids and coconut groves. The group enjoyed a spectacular show of Dictyophora cinnabarina (stinkhorn mushroom) just waiting to be discovered as mycologists climbed off the buses at Lava Tree Park (see photo plate). Other favourites of the day were the earthstars and some Amanita species. Hosts for this foray were Profs. Don Hemmes, and Dennis Desjardin, co-authors of the field guide “Mushrooms of Hawai’i”. These great mycologists eagerly showed the group the hot spots of fungal diversity in the park areas and many could be seen collecting boxes of myxomycetes for undergraduate teaching purposes. The day also included trips to the black sand beaches of Kalapana and Puna.
On the Sunday, the conference was officially opened with a light reception where the locals donned their traditional clothes, showered mycologists with fresh flower leis and ‘Hula-Hula’ed’ the night away in amidst the delegates chatter and socialising.
The congress had an exciting program filled with a week’s worth of lectures, poster sessions, workshops and special symposia. There was a great diversity of topics ranging from Mycobiota of the Pacific Islands to genomics, systematics, phylogeography, mycorrhizae in forest ecosystems and cultivation of mushrooms and their use in promotion of health, but to name a few. The diversity of the delegates was just as great with 450 participants from 27 different countries.
The mid-conference foray to Hawai’i’s Volcanoes National Park was another highlight of the conference. Although no actual hot lava was observed, it was still a great experience for the group to be standing on an active volcano with steam vents continuously spewing sulphuric acid into the air. Prof Brenda Wingfield introduced her students to the art of Japanese cuisine and the more acquired tastes of Sushi. Of course, the afternoon out snorkelling was also a tremendous treat and a good break from many hours sitting in lecture rooms.
There were a number of initial hiccups in getting the FABI delegation to Hawaii. The worst of these was caused by the harrowing experience of several of the team almost missing the conference due to the recent SAA strikes. In addition, one student lost her luggage and lived on minimal supplies for the duration of the trip and another had a very bad reaction to the local mosquitoes (or bed bugs?). Other than these relatively minor problems, the experience as a whole, and the conference in particular, was a great, exciting and definitely a once-in-a-life-time opportunity, deeply appreciated by all of the group.
a) Elsie de Meyer, Irene Barnes, Lieschen De Vos and Prof Brenda Wingfield at the evening opening ceremony.
b) Dictyophora cinnabarina (stinkhorn mushroom) observed at Lava Tree State Park.
c) Many earthstars could be found at Mackenzie Park during the pre-conference foray.
d) FABI’ans enjoying an afternoon out snorkelling at Richards point and displaying the local Hawaiian greeting – Aloha!
The annual Mycological Society of America meeting was held this year in conjunction with the meeting of the Mycological Society of Japan, which is currently celebrating its 50th anniversary. The apt theme for this joint congress was “Hyphal Bridges Over the Pacific” and the venue: the exotically beautiful island of Hilo, Hawai’i.
Four representatives from FABI were privileged to be able to attend this meeting. Accompanying Prof Brenda Wingfield were two of her Ph.D. students, Lieschen De Vos and Irene Barnes who both received Mellon grants to attend the conference. Irene is a PhD student whose research is supported through the DST/NRF Centre of Excellence in Tree Health Biotechnology (CTHB). In addition Elsie de Meyer, an MSc student of Prof. Mike Wingfield, also joined the group and this was her first ever, overseas trip. FABI’s contribution to the congress included three oral presentations and six poster presentations. At the evening awards ceremony, Irene Barnes was awarded the W. C. Denison MSA Mentor Student Travel Grant. Irene successfully leads the Mentoring Programme in the CTHB where ten students are mentored by eight mentors.
The conference commenced on the Saturday with a pre-conference foray to Lava Tree State Park and Mackenzie Park. Busloads of eager mycologists could be seen foraging through the natural forests in search for the exotic and unknown fungal species. This was together with their marvelling at the larva tree moulds and trying not to fall down the larva tubes amidst the beautiful tree ferns, orchids and coconut groves. The group enjoyed a spectacular show of Dictyophora cinnabarina (stinkhorn mushroom) just waiting to be discovered as mycologists climbed off the buses at Lava Tree Park (see photo plate). Other favourites of the day were the earthstars and some Amanita species. Hosts for this foray were Profs. Don Hemmes, and Dennis Desjardin, co-authors of the field guide “Mushrooms of Hawai’i”. These great mycologists eagerly showed the group the hot spots of fungal diversity in the park areas and many could be seen collecting boxes of myxomycetes for undergraduate teaching purposes. The day also included trips to the black sand beaches of Kalapana and Puna.
On the Sunday, the conference was officially opened with a light reception where the locals donned their traditional clothes, showered mycologists with fresh flower leis and ‘Hula-Hula’ed’ the night away in amidst the delegates chatter and socialising.
The congress had an exciting program filled with a week’s worth of lectures, poster sessions, workshops and special symposia. There was a great diversity of topics ranging from Mycobiota of the Pacific Islands to genomics, systematics, phylogeography, mycorrhizae in forest ecosystems and cultivation of mushrooms and their use in promotion of health, but to name a few. The diversity of the delegates was just as great with 450 participants from 27 different countries.
The mid-conference foray to Hawai’i’s Volcanoes National Park was another highlight of the conference. Although no actual hot lava was observed, it was still a great experience for the group to be standing on an active volcano with steam vents continuously spewing sulphuric acid into the air. Prof Brenda Wingfield introduced her students to the art of Japanese cuisine and the more acquired tastes of Sushi. Of course, the afternoon out snorkelling was also a tremendous treat and a good break from many hours sitting in lecture rooms.
There were a number of initial hiccups in getting the FABI delegation to Hawaii. The worst of these was caused by the harrowing experience of several of the team almost missing the conference due to the recent SAA strikes. In addition, one student lost her luggage and lived on minimal supplies for the duration of the trip and another had a very bad reaction to the local mosquitoes (or bed bugs?). Other than these relatively minor problems, the experience as a whole, and the conference in particular, was a great, exciting and definitely a once-in-a-life-time opportunity, deeply appreciated by all of the group.
a) Elsie de Meyer, Irene Barnes, Lieschen De Vos and Prof Brenda Wingfield at the evening opening ceremony.
b) Dictyophora cinnabarina (stinkhorn mushroom) observed at Lava Tree State Park.
c) Many earthstars could be found at Mackenzie Park during the pre-conference foray.
d) FABI’ans enjoying an afternoon out snorkelling at Richards point and displaying the local Hawaiian greeting – Aloha!
