You may not be aware of it, but our overall health and well-being depends on an immense ecosystem of yeasts and moulds inside our body and all around us. From beneficial yeasts that aid digestion to toxic moulds that cause disease, our immune systems are engaged in continuous conversation with the teeming mycobiome inside the body, and when this peaceful coexistence is disturbed we can fall prey to serious and even life-threatening infections.
Join mycologist, Nicholas Money, as he takes us on a tour of the marvellous unseen realm within us and also sheds light on our complicated relationship with fungi outside the body, from wild mushrooms and cultivated moulds that have been staples of the human diet for millennia to the controversial experimentation with magic mushrooms in the treatment of depression.
Nicholas Money will be 'In Conversation' with Clare Blencowe from Kew Gardens' Darwin Tree of Life Project and will also be signing copies of his latest book 'Molds, Mushrooms & Medicine' (*American spelling), which will be available to purchase on the night.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Nicholas P. Money is the Director of the Western Program and Professor of Biology at Miami University. He is a fungal biologist and science writer, and has authored a number of books that celebrate the diversity of the microbial world; 'The Rise of Yeast: How the Sugar Fungus Shaped Civilization', 'The Selfish Ape: Human Nature and Our Path to Extinction' and his latest 'Molds, Mushrooms & Medicine'.
Nik is an expert on mycology and in his research at Miami, he has pioneered the use of high-speed video microscopy to understand the explosive mechanisms used by fungi to launch their spores into the air.
CHAIR BIOGRAPHY
Clare Blencowe studied Environmental Monitoring and Modelling at Kings College London and has a professional background working in environmental regulation and the UK biodiversity data sector. She is part of the Mycology team at Kew Gardens and Project Coordinator of the Darwin Tree of Life Project, which aims to sequence all eukaryotic species in Britain and Ireland, including native animals, plants and fungi, to secure the future of the UK's biodiversity.