Alison Harrington

I manage and curate the preserved collections of fungi, lichens and bryophytes, and facilitate access to specimens and related historical materials. I maintain the cryopreserved collection of zoosporic fungi (CZEUM). My personal research focus is ascomycete taxonomy and systematics.

Research interests
The vast majority of fungal biodiversity is undescribed and largely unknown. My overarching research aim is to speed the characterization of this cryptic fungal biodiversity such that it can be integrated into broader ecological and evolutionary frameworks. To this end, I use a diverse suite of bioinformatic tools and data derived from molecular ecology and phylogenetics, in conjunction with biodiversity repositories and collections, to synthesize molecular, morphological and ecological information about poorly known fungal lineages. My graduate work focused on plant-associated lineages in Sordariomycetes and Dothideomycetes (Ascomycota), and I have a particular interest in fungi traditionally referred to as hyphomycetes.