2022 Field Biology Award: Camille Truong

Camille Truong devotes her time as a field researcher to an understudied kingdom of organisms: fungi. Her initial research focused on the lichen-forming fungi, and now considers how ectomycorrhizal fungi play important roles in the establishment, growth and health of trees and other vascular plants in forests around the world.

Truong is committed to international research: she speaks three languages, has done field work in 10 countries on four continents and has set up field study sites in remote and poorly explored areas of Mexico, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, Cameroon and Australia. Her broad-based research combines phylogenomics, molecular clocks, bioinformatics and community ecology. Collectively, these approaches are providing new insights into the diversity, evolution and ecology of fungi. Truong has discovered more than 20 new species, described entire mycorrhizal communities and developed sophisticated molecular techniques that help researchers better understand biogeographical connections between plants and mycorrhizal fungi, as well as the functional role of fungi in forest soils.

How Truong conducts her research is as important to her as what she studies. She has created an international network that includes productive connections with local people. Her collaborative mindset and inclusive approach have advanced the work of her students and in-country collaborators. Colleagues describe her as a real “fire plug” who handles all field expedition logistics, serves as the translator and keeps participants happy, engaged and coordinated.

For more information, visit https://camilletruong.wixsite.com/home.

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