The next Ronin seminar is at Noon US ET, on Wednesday Oct 28 by Emily Monosson (@emilyM) here’s the title and abstract. Zoom details will follow in later update.
Title: Blight: the rise of fungal pandemics
Abstract: Fungal diseases are on the rise. Our changing climate is making the planet more amenable to invasion. Populations of bats, frogs and salamanders now face extinction caused by recent outbreaks. White pines and oak trees on the slopes of America’s beloved National Parks are covered with spindly corpses. Food crops are under siege, threatening not just our beloved bananas, but other global staples like rice and wheat. Just before COVID-19, the deadly and incurable Candida auris, which has infected hospital patients and those with weakened immune systems around the world, captured the headlines. Collectively, infectious fungi and fungus-like pathogens are the most devastating agents of disease on earth. I have been working on a book project pulling all of this together. For this talk I focus on just one story – the trees and how fungus changed the American landscape; our role in this catastrophe; and possible solutions.