Congratulations to Professor Bob Blanchette, who recieved the 2026 Distinguished Mycologist Award at the 94th annual Mycological Society of America (MSA) meeting, which was hosted in Portland, Oregon.
From the MSA meeting webpage and program:
The Distinguished Mycologist Award is one of the highest awards bestowed by the Mycological Society of America, and it is designed to recognize individuals that have a truly distinguished career in the field of mycology in terms of either research or service.
DISTINGUISHED MYCOLOGIST AWARD: Dr. Robert A. Blanchette
Robert (Bob) Blanchette is a professor in the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of Minnesota where he teaches classes and carries out research on the biology and ecology of fungi that grow on and attack trees and wood. He has studied fungi around the globe, from Minnesota’s old growth temperate forests to the rainforests of the Amazon and Asia, as well as many investigations in the Arctic and Antarctic. His work to elucidate the mechanisms that fungi use to decay wood in living trees and wood products has been applied to many investigations for preserving archaeological and historic woods, including wood from ancient tombs in Egypt and Turkey, the Scott and Shakleton explorer huts in Antarctica, recovered sunken US Civil War ships and others. His interests in ethnomycology have led to many investigations of fungal objects in natural history museums that have provided a better understanding of how Indigenous People from around the world used fungi in the past. A few of his current studies underway with graduate students and colleagues include investigations of gigantic bioluminescent fungal networks in the Ecuadorian Amazon, studying unusual aquatic Xylaria, elucidating insect/fungal interactions including the use of entomopathogens to control the emerald ash borer, utilizing canker and wilt causing fungi to control invasive buckthorn and other studies involving all types of forest fungi.