NAMC – Newsletter of the Asian Mycological Committee

long summer program), a kitchen and meeting area and laboratory facilities. Meals (traditional
Thai food) are prepared on site.
Each summer program consists of an introductory session on fungi, workshops on particular
groups of fungi and fungus-like organisms and trips to collecting sites in the Chiang Mai region
of northern India. Workshops held as part of the 2011 summer program considered the family
Russulaceae, pyrenomycetous fungi and myxomycetes. Collecting has been carried out in a
variety of different forest types, including pine-dominated forests, dipterocarp forests and
mixed forests (Fig. 2). Specimens collected in the field are brought back to the laboratory for
detailed study. After they have been photographed, described and worked up, specimens are
deposited in the herbarium of Mae Fah Luang University.
In addition to spending time together on collecting trips and working in the laboratory, student
participants share research interests and generally get to know one another. Participants form
the United States get to know Thai culture in addition to learning about the customs and way of
life in the other countries (e.g., China and Laos) represented by participants from SE Asia. This
aspect of the program has been an extraordinary experience for all of the students involved and
undoubtedly will lead to future research collaborations as these students embark upon their
careers in mycology.
Each of the two summer programs completed thus far has yielded several hundred collections
of fungi (including slime molds). In 2011, some emphasis was on the “little fungi” (mostly
ascomycetes) that are often overlooked by mycologists whose interests are directed towards
macrofungi. Although most of the specimens have yet to be identified, Dr. Larissa Vasilyeva
(Vladivostok, Russia), who spent about 10 days at the Mushroom Research Centre during the
latter portion of June, discovered at least 15 species of pyrenomycetes that are new to science.
It seems almost certain that additional new species in a number of groups of fungi are
forthcoming.
Images of the Mushroom Research Centre, student participants, fungi and northern Thailand in
general are available on .