Bio
Todd Osmundson is a postdoctoral researcher in the Forest Pathology & Mycology Laboratory at the University of California – Berkeley. His research interests are in the systematics, evolution, ecology, and conservation biology of microbial organisms — current and recent research systems include ectomycorrhizal fungi, microfungi and bacteria. Knowledge about the evolution, dispersal, and interactions of these organisms is critical for understanding ecosystem function and predicting how diversity will be impacted by threats like climate change and habitat loss and fragmentation. Dr. Osmundson's research therefore involves multiple lines of investigation, from species discovery and description to examining the historical and environmental factors responsible for present species distributions, the functions of microbes in ecosystems, and the response of different microbial species to ecological perturbations. His past and current research experience includes fieldwork in Australia, China, Costa Rica, French Polynesia, Guatemala, Mexico, Svalbard, Thailand, and the United States, in tropical, temperate, arctic, and alpine biomes.
Education
Ph.D., Columbia University, New York, NY. Department of Ecology, Evolution & Environmental Biology and Institute of Systematic Botany and the Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Program for Molecular Systematics Studies, The New York Botanical Garden. Dr. Roy Halling, advisor.
Advanced Certificate in Environmental Policy, Columbia University, New York, NY.
M.S., Montana State University, Bozeman, MT. Department of Plant Sciences & Plant Pathology. Dr. Cathy Cripps, advisor.
Intern, "Comparative Studies on the Macrofungi of China and Eastern North America," The Field Museum, Chicago, IL. Drs. Gregory Mueller and Florence Wu, advisors.
B.A., University of Montana, Missoula, MT. Division of Biological Sciences.
B.A., Carleton College, Northfield, MN. Department of Geology.