Michelle Jusino

Dr. Michelle Jusino is a Research Biologist at the USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, Center for Forest Mycology Research in Madison, Wisconsin. Dr. Jusino’s research uncovers the secret lives of fungi associated with animals to address a broad range of basic and applied research goals including the ecology and evolution of symbioses and the conservation of imperiled and endangered species. Her novel research program sparked a now rapidly growing interest in the associations between birds and fungi.

Dr. Jusino received her Ph.D. from Virginia Tech while studying the fungi associated with endangered woodpeckers and their excavations. As a postdoc, Dr. Jusino helped develop synthetic amplicon sequencing controls and a bioinformatics pipeline for fungal community sequencing. During her postdoctoral time, she also discovered previously unknown symbioses between wood-boring beetles and wood decay fungi and mentored many graduate students working on diverse topics in fungal ecology. Dr. Jusino has chaired several symposia including a virtual research symposium for the 2020 MSA meeting, resulting in a special issue of Fungal Ecology based around this symposium with Dr. Jusino serving as co-editor.

Dr. Jusino first attended an MSA meeting in 2010, as a Ph.D. student in an avian ecology lab. The warm and inclusive environment she experienced helped solidify her career path in mycology. She has since enjoyed introducing her student mentees to MSA and wishes to serve in its continued dedication to being a welcome and inclusive professional society.