Meet the IMS Executive

Dr. Justine Karst
President (2024-2026)
Associate Professor, University of Alberta, Canada

Research interests:

  • ectomycorrhizal ecology of boreal forests
  • forest restoration and recovery after disturbance
  • carbon flow from trees, fungi, to soils
  • old trees

Personal interests:

  • science (mis)communication
  • drawing
  • bike-touring

Dr. Jan Jansa
Vice-President (2024-2026)
Institute of Microbiology, Czech Academy of Sciences
Head of research group (Laboratory of Fungal Biology) since 2014

Research interests:

  • Carbon flows between atmosphere, plants, mycorrhizal fungi, and soil
  • Biology of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis with a special focus on AM fungal hyphosphere including interactions between the fungi and bacteria, archaea, and protists
  • Phosphorus and nitrogen cycling in ecosystems as affected by arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM)
  • Mechanisms of water transport via AM fungal hyphae

Tools:

  • Quantitative PCR and (massively parallel) molecular profiling of microbial communities
  • Radio- and stable isotopic labelling and tracing
  • Manipulative experiments with compartmented microcosms (i.e., separating rhizosphere and hyphosphere)
  • Synthetic microbial communities

Dr. Marcel van der Heijden
Past President (2024-2026)

  • Professor on Agroecology & Plant-Microbiome Interactions, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
  • Head of Research Group, Plant-Soil Interactions, Agroscope, Zurich, Switzerland
  • Professor on Mycorrhizal Ecology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands

Research and Interests include:

  • impact of mycorrhizal fungal diversity on plant diversity, nutrient cycling and ecosystem functioning.
  • applied research for environmental engineers, farmers and policy makers to demonstrate the importance of underground mutualisms and the significance of soil as a resource for agricultural production, environmental sustainability and nature protection
  • multidisciplinary researcher active in ecology, agriculture, biodiversity, molecular ecology, plant microbiome research, molecular cross-talk in mycorrhizal associations, plant sciences, plant nutrition, soil sciences, sustainability and environmental protection.

Dr. John Klironomos
UBC Okanagan, Canada
Past President (2019-2020)

Professor, Department of Biology, University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, BC Canada

Research interests include:
• The ecology of mycorrhizal symbioses
• Mycorrhizas and plant invasions
• The influence of soil biota on plant communities

Current Editorial Position – Ecology Letters

Current Research Society Positions and Memberships
• Fellow, Royal Society of Canada
• Member, Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution
• Member, International Mycorrhiza Society
• Member, Soil Ecology Society (President 2010-2011)

Dr. Francis Martin
Past President (2017-2019)

  • Research Director Emeritus, INRAE Grand Est-Nancy, France
  • Visiting Professor at Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Lanzhou, China
  • Visiting Professor at the Institute of Subtropical Forestry, Hangzhou, China

Research and Focus Areas include:

  • The role of soil fungi in forest ecosystems, particularly in key soil processes like decomposition and nutrient cycling.
  • Molecular pathways involved in the formation and function of ectomycorrhizal symbioses.
  • Comparative genomic studies of symbiotic and saprotrophic fungi to understand the transitions across the saprotrophism-to-symbiosis continuum (in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute).
  • Biodiversity, structure and function of soil fungal communities in old-growth forests.
  • Science Communication