Lynne Boddy

Boddy studied biology at the University of Exeter. She became interested in mycology because she was taught by the notable mycologist John Webster and encountered the fungus Serpula lacrimans causing dry rot in her student accommodation.[1][2] She joined Queen Mary College as a research assistant working on the decay of wood. Here she was the local organiser of a symposium on decomposer basidiomycetes.[3] She earned a PhD in ecology[4] from Queen Mary University of London and a Doctor of Science DSc degree in the ecology of wood composition from the University of Exeter.[1] She worked under the supervision of Mike Swift.[5]

Boddy was appointed a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Bath. Boddy subsequently joined Cardiff University in 1983, where she worked on antagonistic interactions, mycelia and fungal communities.[6][7] Fungal communities impact the decay rate of wood. She studied how neural networks could be used to analyse flow cytometry data from phytoplankton.[8] She is interested in how fungi fight with each other as they investigate the forest floor.[9] Boddy identified that fungi battle each other by producing inhibitory chemicals that can be transmitted through the air, equivalent to the poisonous gas produced during World War I.[10] Her research on fighting fungi was featured in New Scientist.[11]

Boddy leads the Fungal Ecology Group at Cardiff University.[12] She looked at the decomposition of coarse woody debris.[13] Boddy has studied the role of fungi in carbon and nutrient cycling.[14] Boddy has studied priority effects during the establishment of fungal communities in wood.[15] She found that abiotic variables impact the fungal interactions of beech wood, and that fungal combative abilities were sensitive to the ambient temperature.[16] She demonstrated that differences in the abiotic factors between sites can cause variation in the impact of priority effects in wood decay communities.[17] In 2008 Boddy argued in The Guardian that fungi were humankind's most invaluable species.[18] She claims that without fungi, land-based ecosystems, including humans, would not exist.[18]

• 1989 British Mycological Society Berkeley Award[3]
• 1999 Society for General Microbiology[3]
• 2011 Elected a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales (FLSW)[29]
• 2016 British Ecological Society Marsh Ecology Award[30][31]
• 2018 Learned Society of Wales Frances Hoggan Medal[32]
• 2018 Honorary doctorate from Abertay University[33]

Boddy was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2019 Birthday Honours for services to mycology and public engagement in science.[34]

• Rayner, A.D.; Boddy, Lynne (1995). Fungal decomposition of wood : its biology and ecology. Wiley. ISBN 978-0471103103. OCLC 487040189.
• Frankland, Juliet C.; Van West, P.; Boddy, Lynne (2008). Ecology of saprotrophic basidiomycetes. Elsevier Academic Press. OCLC 243828240.
• Ainsworth, Martyn; Boddy, Lynne; Coleman, Max (2010). From another kingdom : the amazing world of fungi. Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh. ISBN 9781906129675. OCLC 920233370.
• Watkinson, Sarah C.; Boddy, Lynne; Money, Nicholas P. (7 January 2016). The fungi (Third ed.). Waltham, MA. ISBN 978-0123820341. OCLC 932528410.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)