New Mexico Highlands University Forestry Professor Dr. Michael Remke has been awarded $16,500 to support an undergraduate research project focused on cultivating, sequencing, and studying fungi from diverse environments across Northern New Mexico.
The project, The Fungus Among Us: Cultivating and Sequencing Fungi from Diverse Environments, will provide stipends and research materials for NMHU undergraduates while expanding hands-on research opportunities in fungal ecology, forestry, and biology. By supporting student-driven projects, the initiative strengthens experiential learning, builds interdisciplinary collaboration between the Forestry and Biology programs, and contributes new scientific knowledge about fungal communities critical to healthy ecosystems.
The project will support three undergraduate lead researchers and embed mycology-focused research into course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs), engaging approximately 25 additional students in applied scientific inquiry. Students will gain experience in field sampling, laboratory culturing, DNA extraction, sequencing, and data analysis—skills that are increasingly important in environmental science and natural resource careers.
Research activities will examine fungal communities in a variety of real-world contexts, including wildfire-affected landscapes, watershed restoration sites, forest nurseries, and protected grassland–woodland ecosystems. Specific project objectives include isolating and DNA barcoding fungi from wildfire smoke samples, sequencing fungi associated with decaying wood in restoration projects, and assessing fungal communities linked to reforestation efforts and nursery stock.
Additional components of the project include a collaborative study of conifer wood decay fungi in Northern New Mexico through a CURE in Wildland Pest Management, conducted in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, as well as a soil fungal community assessment at the Rio Mora National Wildlife Refuge, managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, across grassland–woodland ecotones that support culturally significant bison herds.
By connecting undergraduate students directly to cutting-edge ecological research, the project highlights NMHU’s commitment to hands-on learning, interdisciplinary collaboration, and place-based science that serves both students and the broader community.