I have been interested in biology for as long as I can remember, and this led to my undergraduate degree at the University of Bath (2006-10). As part of my degree I spent a year working in the Jodrell Laboratory at Kew Gardens, conducting research into comparative plant anatomy. I loved working in a research environment and this inspired me to undertake a PhD in fungal ecology, a subject which I found particularly intersting during my degree. Since then I have been fascinated by interactions and the effects they have from the organism to the ecosystem level. My thesis (2010) focused on interspecific interactions between wood decay basidiomycetes, and their effects on gene expression, metabolite production and enzyme activity. Since then, I have been employed as a postdoc; first on a NERC-funded project investigating the impact of fungal community structure and dynamics on wood decay and carbon cycling, and currently on another NERC-funded project investigating interactions using cutting edge molecular and biochemical techniques. My other interests include the interactions between different endophytic fungi and their hosts, and the potential uses of saprotrophic fungi in bioremediation.