Toby Kiers

Roles: Special Guest

Toby Kiers is a Professor of Evolutionary Biology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and the Executive Director of the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN). Her lab uses nanoprobes and high-resolution imaging to map the nutrient flows and architecture of plant-fungal networks. She is globally-recognized for her scientific work in the evolution of symbiotic trade, and her public outreach activities, including a 2019 Ted Talk. Kiers has won many academic awards including an Ammodo Award in 2019 for “unfettered science,” the E.O. Wilson Award for Natural History in 2021, the Stairway to Impact Award from the Dutch Science Foundation in 2022, and the Spinoza Prize in 2023, known as the Dutch Nobel Prize. For her work decoding complex trade patterns in fungi, Kiers was named in TIME’s 100 Next list of Emerging Leaders in 2022.

 

2024 Program(s):

Films About Fungi: The Interconnectors of Nature