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: