William J. Davis

I am a naturalist, one who asks the questions "What is it?", "Why is it here", and "What does it do?" of every organism encountered. My love of nature comes from my family, which has been in agriculture for several generations. I am a first generation college student. When I entered undergraduate studies, it was with the dream of becoming a botanist and a toxicologist: I wanted to understand plant toxins and find new ways to use them. As an undergraduate, I worked in a lab growing fungi, and I fell in love with the group, especially the chytrids. I decided to make a career studying fungi. Currently, I am working with the ZygoLife project to understand the evolution of sex, the diversification of fungi, and the interactions between fungi and other organisms.

Twitter: @cricketsonboats

iNaturalist: daviswj

September 2016