Dennis E Desjardin

Dennis Desjardin's interest in mushrooms started at an early age as he accompanied his parents on forays into the mushroom-rich forests of northern California. After stints as a professional musician and carpenter Dennis returned to college and studied with Harry D. Thiers at San Francisco State University (M.S. 1985) and Ronald H. Petersen at the University of Tennessee (Ph.D. 1989). He also had the privilege of being trained by the renowned mycologists Drs. Alexander H. Smith, Rolf Singer,...See more

Dennis Desjardin's interest in mushrooms started at an early age as he accompanied his parents on forays into the mushroom-rich forests of northern California. After stints as a professional musician and carpenter Dennis returned to college and studied with Harry D. Thiers at San Francisco State University (M.S. 1985) and Ronald H. Petersen at the University of Tennessee (Ph.D. 1989). He also had the privilege of being trained by the renowned mycologists Drs. Alexander H. Smith, Rolf Singer, Meinhard Moser and Egon Horak. He is currently Professor of Biology at San Francisco State University. Dr. Desjardin has published over 140 refereed scientific papers on the taxonomy and evolution of mushroom-forming fungi in which he described 260 new species and 7 new genera. He has active research projects in the Hawaiian Islands, Micronesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brazil, the African islands of Sao Tome and Principe, and has developed a recent interest in the origin and evolution of bioluminescent fungi. Dennis is co-author of the new field guide California Mushrooms (Timber Press, 2015). See less