DescriptionThe mutualistic relationship between trees and fungi has been well-known for over a century and metaphors emerging from this interaction have become increasingly common in popular culture. But we have learned many nuances in recent days – we’ll cover some of the frontier of research involving the intricacies and nuts-and-bolts mechanisms of this famous symbiosis. About Christian Schwarz:Christian studied Ecology and Evolution at UC Santa Cruz where his interest in the world of fungi became irrevocable – their seemingly endless forms (from the grotesque to the bizarre to the sublime) feed his curiosity. Christian now teaches Natural History of Fungi to undergraduates and is a research associate of the Norris Center at UCSC. is co-author of Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast and now spends his time seeking photographing collecting teaching about and publishing research on the macrofungi of California and Arizona. He is a research associate of the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden and is assembling a mycoflora for the California Channel Islands. He has also served on the IUCN Red List Working Group for North American Fungi advocating for habitat conservation focused on fungi. He is passionate about biodiversity in general and especially in the philosophy and practice of community science (especially through the use of iNaturalist).