(Picture : favolaschia calocera)

Fungi are vital to life on Earth as we know it. Once grouped with plants, fungi are now recognised as a separate, and arguably one of the largest, kingdoms of organisms, with over 5 million species estimated. From microscopic single celled yeasts to one of the largest living organisms on our planet, fungi can be found in just about every habitat on Earth, from the Arctic to the tropics, in the air we breathe, in seas and oceans, in the home, garden and in woodlands and forests – even as part our microbiome. 

We use fungi in our everyday lives, in food products, as medicines, to help clean up the environment, as building materials and packaging, in fashion and in cleaning products.

Fungi form beneficial partnerships with plants and animals, they are our planet’s best recyclers, yet they can cause disease and devastate crops.  

So, what are fungi? Where do we find them, what do they do and how is our relationship with fungi evolving in an ever-changing world?

Ali Ashby is passionate about fungi and fungal science for over 30 years. She is a former Royal Society University Research Fellow and former member of the Department of Plant Sciences, Cambridge where her research interests were mainly focussed on fungal diseases of brassicas.

As a member of the British Mycological Society she has taken an active role in Fungal Education and Outreach and was both chair of the FEO committee and a member of BMS Council. She was coordinator of the BMS inaugural UK Fungus Day and has supported many subsequent UKFD events and has been involved in a number of public engagement activities at science festivals, on radio and in schools.

She is a member of the Scientific advisory board for Myconeos and takes an active interest in start ups involving fungi. Ali was co-author of ‘Fungi’ published by Dorling Kindersley in 2023 and is currently working on her own book ‘Unravelling the Fungus Among Us’. She produced a short video for UK Fungus Day based on one of the chapters in her book: The Fungus in the Rye. Watch it here: