Sporing New Ideas: UMR Professors Grow Research Opportunities with Mushrooms and Community Collaboration

Biology faculty Rachel Olson and Micaela Haas are creating an environment where undergraduate students can learn and grow within their passion for research at University of Minnesota Rochester (UMR).

“Inclusion of undergraduates in authentic research is an effective tool to increase interest and competency in a career in research,” shared Olson.

At UMR, one microbiology course is currently offered that places focus upon bacteria with introductions to mycology, parasitology and virology. However, through prior student feedback there have been requests to delve deeper into these topics. Through conversation, creative thinking and innovation, Olson and Haas came up with a solution.

The result? A special topics course that further explores mycology, parasitology and virology within microbiology that collaborates with community partners to offer students opportunities for mentorship on top of research exploration. “We’ve learned so much by offering this course; students are invested in their research projects, gaining valuable skills and are also working hands-on with community partners,” shared Haas.

These community partners include a partnership with Jeremy Herdich of Frozen Cap Mushroom Farm and Amanda Nigon-Crowley, Development Director of The Village.

“With Jeremy’s expert guidance, our students initiated a multi-year investigation into fungal contributions to composting. We set-up the experiment at The Village and are using the garden wastes as our substrate. We are grateful for those authentic and meaningful partnerships,” shared Olson. 

Jack Kujath, a current UMR student shared his excitement, “It has been a great experience getting to work with both Jeremey, the mushroom man and The Village. I love getting to use what we learned about growing mushrooms from Jeremy in our experiment that could help the community. We are super excited to get our soil samples back and see if we can help speed up the decomposition time with mushrooms at the Village."

Not only are they participating in research within the community, student’s are growing their own mushrooms in the lab and learning how to harvest and eat them. Students are also taking a creative and culinary approach to learning that goes beyond scientific research. The class provides opportunities to learn how to cook and eat the mushrooms as well as use spore imaging to create art projects. 

Through this research, students have the opportunity to be co-authors on research posters that will be presented at multiple conferences including the UMR Research and Education Symposium, National Conference for Undergraduate Research and more. This research is predicted to be ongoing with additional opportunities for more students.