Myco-Consortium talk June 15: Keith Seifert
As part of the MST's membership in the Myco-Consortium series of Zoom talks, MST members are invited to join the presentation on Thursday, June 15th at 7pm ET:
Three Microfungi that Changed the World
A talk by Keith Seifert
Thursday June 15th, 7pm ET
To celebrate the publication of "The Hidden Kingdom of Fungi," my recent book for general readers, I will present three stories in depth to show the profound effects of fungi (or "phungi") can have on human affairs. We will follow the path of the Great Potato Famine from its origins to the Irish diaspora of millions of victims to Canada and the USA. We will look at the discovery of penicillin and its impacts on World War II and conflicting concepts of intellectual property. Then we will look at some global aspects of wheat rust. These stories show that the impacts of fungi and fungal research extend far beyond the corridors of science.
About Keith Seifert
For more than 40 years, Canadian mycologist Keith Seifert specialized in the identification and classification of microscopic fungi producing toxins in crops and foods. He worked as a Research Scientist for Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada in Ottawa from 1990-2019. His academic publications include >250 scientific papers and six books. He retired from research in 2019 to write about interactions between science, the arts, history and society and is now an adjunct professor at Carleton University in Ottawa.
How to Join: