🎉 Congratulations to the 2026 AMS Research Grant Awardees! 🎉

The Australasian Mycological Society is delighted to announce the recipients of the 2026 AMS Research Grant! This year, we’re excited to support two awardees in Australasia conducting innovative fungal research - Angela Li and Leela Maya Rizal!

Check out the summaries of their research projects below!

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Angela Li

PhD Candidate, University of New South Wales

Project title: Exploring the biodiversity and role of fungal symbionts in Australian habitat forming seaweeds

Studies of fungal diversity have largely revolved around terrestrial habitats, overlooking other ecosystems such as marine environments. In comparison to their terrestrial counterparts, marine fungi have been sparsely described with only 142 species recorded in Australia. Marine fungi are known to exist freely in the environment or form symbiotic relationships with other organisms including seaweeds. In seaweed, fungi can induce morphological development, recycle organic material, and cause disease. For example, in the native Australian macroalga Phyllospora comosa (Crayweed), a novel fungus causes stipe rot disease, resulting in increased mortality. Although it is known that fungi and seaweed can form meaningful interactions, most seaweed-associated fungi are still uncharacterised. Funding from the AMS grant will support a culture and sequencing based investigation into the diversity and potential functional role of fungi associated with the seaweeds Phyllospora comosa, Ecklonia radiata and Hormosira banksii.

Angela is a PhD candidate at the University of New South Wales, Sydney supervised by Prof. Suhelen Egan. Her broad research interests include environmental microbiology, phycology and ecology. She completed her Bachelor of Science (Honours) with the same research group, investigating the role of bacteria in seaweed early development. She discovered her interest in mycology after growing "accidental fungi" one too many times in the lab. 

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Leela Maya Rizal

Postdoctoral Researcher, CSIRO Agriculture and Food

Project title: Culturomics reveals functionally important degraders and antagonists in conserved wheat stubble

Growing up in Bhutan, an endemic Himalayan region for Ophiocordyceps sinensis where traditional medicine shapes everyday life, Leela developed a deep fascination with insect fungi as both biological mysteries and valuable therapeutic resources. This curiosity underpinned her PhD research, where she integrated genomics, morphology, and crossing assays to establish accurate identification frameworks for entomopathogenic fungi (EPF). Her work revealed sexual potential in Australian Beauveria bassiana, challenging long-held assumptions of strict asexuality and connecting these findings to her native Himalayan fungus, Ophiocordyceps sinensis.

At CSIRO Agriculture and Food, Leela develops microbiome-based solutions for sustainable grain crop residue management and pathogen suppression. In conservation agriculture, retained wheat stubble supports soil health, however, slow decomposition creates conditions conducive to stubble-borne diseases, limiting crop establishment, yield, and grain quality. Current practices such as crop rotation and chemical inputs provide only short-term mitigation. Her research leverages the complementary roles of bacteria and fungi in lignocellulose degradation, where cross-kingdom interactions enhance substrate accessibility and functional efficiency. She investigates whether stubble degradation and suppression of Fusarium pseudograminearum (the causal agent of Fusarium crown rot) are driven by individual microbes, generalist degraders, specialist degraders, or synthetic microbial communities (SynComs).

Through the AMS Research Grant, Leela will integrate whole-genome sequencing of 16 isolates with phenotypic analyses to identify key functional genes, including cellulases, xylanases, laccases, antagonistic traits, and heat tolerance, linking genotype to performance. This work will enable the development of high-performing SynComs as sustainable biocontrol solutions for agriculture.

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We warmly congratulate Angela and Leela on receiving the 2026 AMS Research Grant, and look forward to seeing the discoveries their work will bring to mycological research!

We would also like to thank all applicants who submitted exciting and valuable proposals this year - it is encouraging to see such a range of thoughtful projects that reflect the diversity of fungal research happening across Australasia. Your contributions inspire us, and we are pleased to continue supporting the mycological community! ✨🍄✨