I am a Research Leader in the Comparative Fungal Biology group in the Trait Diversity and Function priority at Kew Gardens. My research focus is on evolution, local adaptation, and the impact of environmental pollution in fungi.
I completed my undergraduate studies in Biology at the University of Aberdeen (Scotland) and then proceeded to study for my MSc in Taxonomy and Diversity of Plants at the RBG Edinburgh and the University of Edinburgh (Scotland). I worked as a Research Assistant in Imke Schmitt’s lab at Senckenberg (Frankfurk am Main, Germany) where I studied if the two sections (ITS1 and ITS2) of the fungal DNA barcode differ in community analysis. I completed (2018) my Ph.D. in Mary Berbee’s lab at the University of British Columbia, where I worked on mushroom species delimitation (in the genus Russula), morphology, and biogeography. I was also interested in trying to find signatures of sexual selection on the mating type chromosomes of the castrating anther-smut fungus.
After my Ph.D., I was postdoc at Montana State University (2018-2020) in Sara Branco’s lab on identifying the genes underlying metal tolerance in ectomycorrhizal fungus Suillus luteus found on heavily polluted soils and studying the fungal communities of Yellowstone National Park.
As a postdoc in Sally Otto’s lab (2020-2023), I was working on experimental evolution of the budding yeast model system exposed to a variety of heavy metal environments and testing evolved lines for cross-tolerance. In 2020-21, I was also part of the Canadian Institute of Ecology and Evolution Fungal Conservation Working Group assessing the state of fungal conservation in Canada.
Publications Google Scholar
Natural History
Benjamin Woo’s Russula herbarium links
- Seattle architect and Russula expert Benjamin Woo (1923-2008) Database. The information on the morphological traits of the russulas were also incorporated in Danny Miller’s pictoral key to PNW mushrooms.
Bamfield Marine Science Centre’s Field Mycology Herbarium student collections
- One-hundred and four Mycoportal records of student collections housed in the BMSC herbarium.
Pollution studies blog
- Collection of scientific articles and short summaries in Italian about the closed steelworks site in the Bagnoli neighborhood and its pollution in the neighborhood where I grew up in Naples: https://italsiderbagnolinotes.wordpress.com
Twitter: @annabazzicalupo
A giant heat map at the MoMA and me dressed as a giant heat map at the MoMA (ocean section of “Rhapsody” by Jennifer Bartlett):
