UG lecturer pioneers research in macrofungal diversity in Guyana’s rainforest

Jun 09, 2023 News

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Kaieteur News – University of Guyana’s Lecturer, Dr. Dillon Husbands, attached to the Faculty  of  Agriculture  and  Forestry,  is  currently  conducting  research  in  the  area  of Macrofungal Diversity in Guyana’s Rainforest and is hoping that her work will assist in the preservation and sustainability of the country’s Rainforest Ecosystem.

In a feature on Dr Husbands, the University of Guyana said as a child she was drafted into agriculture as her parents farmed crops and reared livestock to subside other income streams. Her  Father  was  a  building  contractor,  and  her mother  was  a  homemaker,  and  agricultural activities  were  a  central  part  of  their  livelihood.

According to Dr. Husbands, at a tender age, she developed a love for agriculture. Though  Dr.  Husbands  hails  from  a  family  of builders  and  farmers  with  limited  academic qualifications,  she  is  one  of  several  first-generation  scholars  in  her  family  to  acquire tertiary education. She found the zeal to break the generational barriers and after completing secondary school, enrolled at the Guyana School of Agriculture to further her studies.

Upon  completing  her  studies  at  the  GSA,  she joined  the  Ministry  of  Agriculture  Fisheries Department  as  a  Fisheries  Officer.  Dissatisfied Dr. Dillon Husbands with the wages she was earning then, Dr, Husbands chose higher education as a means of economic and academic advancement.

In 1999, Dr. Husbands applied to the University of Guyana (UG) to read for a Bachelor of Science  Degree  in  Agriculture.  From  her  exposure  at  UG,  she  understood  several fundamental facets of life.  “My  campus life experience  taught me many  important  life skills, which I would probably not have acquired anywhere else.”

As an agricultural student, she also developed a fascination for forestry as many of her close friends were members of the forestry department. She was one of two agricultural students that would attend forestry field trips. The lessons learned, and the friendships gleaned are still invaluable. After completing her studies at the University of Guyana, Dr. Husbands returned to her alma mater to serve as Research Centre Manager in 2005. At this point, she developed an innate desire and appreciation for agricultural research and development  Her  work  responsibilities  as  the  Research  Centre  Manager  included  coordinating  and managing staff and student research activities within the Faculty.

The  Faculty  of  Agriculture  and  Forestry  has  always  supported  and  encouraged  staff training  and  academic  advancement.  As  such,  the  then  Dean,  Dr.  P.A.  Francis, encouraged her to participate in research and training on mushroom cultivation. It was there that her interest in fungi developed.  Dr. Husbands subsequently completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Education and a MSc. in Forestry Biology at the University of Guyana, followed by a MSc. and Ph.D. in Botany and  Plant  Pathology  from  Purdue  University.  These  higher  degrees  allowed  her  the opportunity  to  work  alongside  Dr.  Terry  Henkel  from  Humboldt  State  University  and Professor  M.  Catherine  Aime  from  Purdue  University,  who  are  both  world-renowned mycologists and specialists in tropical mycology. All of her research work centered on discovering and documenting macrofungi from the Guyanese rainforest with particular emphasis on members of the genera Xerocomus and Xylaria.

After seven  and a half years  of field expeditions  and  research, the team Dr.  Husbands worked with collected and documented over eighty (80) species of fungi from the genus Xylaria,  along  with  several  new  fruit  and  seed-inhabiting  species.    Central to Dr. Husbands work is the fungus Xylaria karyophthora, a putative pathogen associated with the mortality of dispersed greenheart seeds.

Dr. Husbands explained: “Until 1997, Greenheart was the largest contributor to gross and export revenue from timber sales. Today, it remains one of the most merchantable timber products  as  it  is  world-renowned  for  its  exceptional  qualities.  Greenheart is durable, resistant to biodegradation under saline conditions, impervious to damage by termites and marine crustaceans, and resistant to  fire.  For these  reasons,  Greenheart  wood  is especially  valuable in numerous  maritime applications  and a wide range of  other uses such as the construction of housing, heavy furniture, turnery, and fishing rods.”

Additionally,  Dr. Husbands  noted  that  given  the  importance  of  Greenheart  to  the Guyanese economy, any threat to this species is also a threat to the Guyanese economy. Dr. Husbands’ work in this area is ongoing. Therefore, the activities of X. karyophthora presents  a  direct  threat  to  germination  and  seedling  recruitment  for  greenheart  in Guyana. Work  to further understand the biology and  ecology of  this  fungus  as well  as measures  to  combat  this  new  disease,  is  ongoing.  Dr.  Husbands, in  her  publications “Emerging Forest Diseases: A Case Study of Greenheart Chlorocardium spp Lauraceae and the Newly Described Fungus Xylaria karyophthora” published in 2018, and “  Xylaria karyophthora: a new seed-inhabiting fungus of Greenheart from Guyana” published in 2020, highlighted her findings on the research.

To partially assist with funding these expeditions, Dr. Husbands was awarded an International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO) Fellowship to further conduct research in the epidemiology and population structure of Xylaria karyophthora. According to Dr. Husbands, the Fellowship was made possible through the contributions of the Governments of Japan, the United States of America, and the Netherlands. Further, Dr. Husbands was also awarded the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF-REDD+) Project for financial assistance to support ongoing data collection for scientific research into the newly discovered killer fungus of greenheart seeds in Guyana. Dr. Husbands credits her success to the tremendous support of her family and friends, too numerous to mention, the current and past Deans and staff of the Faculty of Agriculture, staff of the Guyana Forestry Commission, Mr. Joslyn Mckenzie (Ministry of  Natural Resources), Mr. Clayton Hall (Former Advisor to the Minister of Natural Resources), support staff and colleagues at Purdue University and Ms.Catherine Aime, to whom she owes a plethora of gratitude.

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• Dr. Dillon Husbands, Ecosystem, lecturer, Rainforest, University of Guyana

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