Mr Ruairi Hafferty Hay

I am interested in all aspects of mycology, with a focus on mycorrhizal fungi and particularly their ecology and the ways they are linked to, and can help mitigate many of the environmental issues we face today.

Currently, I am a first-year PhD student working on 'Scaling emergent mycoforestry technology from lab to field production' in collaboration with Mycorrhizal Systems Ltd, looking at integrating edible ectomycorrhizal fungi into forestry plantations providing multiple economic, environmental and ecological benefits. Alongside this I work as a Research Assistant, modelling the current, and predicted future distribution of two species of truffles as part of the the 'Emerging Mycoforestry Technology for Carbon-Negative Food Production' project.

I previously worked as a Research Assistant in the Mycorrhizal Ecology lab at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew on the Air Pollution Recovery Indicators project looking at below-ground indicators of recovery from nitrogen pollution in a UK heathland, where I was mainly focused on the assessment of ericoid mycorrhizal fungal colonisation in heather roots. Prior to this, I completed my MSc project in the same lab, looking at the role of mycorrhizas in carbon sequestration and ecosystem functioning in forest habitats across England, as part of the Natural Capital Ecosystem Assessment programme.

I have experience working with fungi using a range of methods across the UK and abroad, from field collection and sampling to lab-processing and analysis and molecular and morphological identification of species.

Mycoforestry, Mycology, Fungi, Mycorrhizas, Ecology, Forests, Cliamte Change