Saw mushrooms at primary school and thought they looked freaky
Finished high school and wanted to get a job in the bush
Started spotting mushrooms in the forests and learning about them
Went to university but did not think I could study mushrooms
Got to go to Sweden for university
Went hiking in Sweden and met mushroom foragers and scientists
Decided I would find a way to study mushrooms
Finished university and took a break to go hike in the mountains
Returned to Tasmania to start researching mushrooms and trees
Presented at a Mushroom Festival – guess I’m an expert now?!
About Jamil Kay
You can thank mushrooms for making it here today.
Mushrooms freaked me out as a kid – they looked strange, almost like little aliens. So, I steered clear of mushrooms until high school. In science class they taught us about animals and plants, but mushrooms were never mentioned. Why? I didn’t know, but it fascinated me. So, I started studying them myself.
I went down YouTube rabbit holes, I read books, and I started chatting. I found out that mushrooms are not plants, they are a whole different Kingdom – “Fungi”. Turns out scientists also think mushrooms are weird, mysterious, and important. Really important. What’s important, though, is what’s happening beneath the surface. That’s where the real story is.
See, beneath mushrooms are networks. They are similar to plant roots, but much smaller, and much longer. And some of these networks connect to tree roots. Trees need these connections to grow. And so do mushrooms. So, mushrooms and trees are basically besties. And this “friendship” is important for other plants, animals, and us too (Basically, the whole world!). Yet so many parts of this friendship are still a mystery.
I decided I wanted to help solve these mysteries by becoming a scientist. Now I get to find the answers to questions no one knows. To find these answers I run experiments – which involves going out into the forests and collecting some of these mushroom networks and growing trees with them. I can then perform some chemistry wizardry and use a microscope to look at tree roots to see if they are connected to mushroom networks. This is super important to know, because these “friendships” between trees and mushrooms give life to everything living in forests.
