Our guest speaker for December will be none other than David Rust, president of the North American Mycological Association (NAMA) and co-founder of the Bay Area Mycological Society.  David's mycological interests are quite varied, ranging from Sudden Oak Death (Phytophthora ramorum) to the mycoflora project, and in this lecture he'll put that wide knowledge base on display by discussing arbuscular mycorrhizal relationships.

Huh?

Arbuscular mycorrhizal is the technical term for fungi and plants engaging in a mutualistic relationship with one another.  Mushrooms helping plants, and visa-versa, and we're finding out it occurs at a very high rate across the botanical world.  David's talk will focus on how plants and fungi derive and use micronutrients from soil and other substrates, and how they benefit from bacteria - the third player in this ecological ménage à trois - to break down complex molecules so they can utilized.  So yeah, this talk will be little technical, but well worth your time to come out and hear what this accomplished and engaging mycologist has to say.