Chair of Biological Sciences

Andrew Methven is a mycologist and lichenologist with interests in the systematics, ecology, and phylogeny of fleshy fungi and lichens.  He teaches courses in mycology, lichens, and field mycology and maintains the Cryptogamic Herbarium (with more than 10,000 collections of fungi and lichens).  Included among his research interests are the identification and ecology of fleshy fungi, mycogeography, the effects of forest alteration on fleshy fungi, the application of compatibility studies and molecular techniques to fungal systematics, and the identification and distribution of lichens in the Midwest.

His current research program is examining the distribution of the mushroom genus Lactarius in the Western Hemisphere, the utilization of biological species concepts in systematics studies of fleshy fungi, and the application of molecular techniques to population studies and mycogeography in the mushroom genus Flammulina.  

Recent research projects involving undergraduate and graduate students have specifically examined:

1. The effects of sugar maple removal from endemic oak-hickory forests on the occurrence and distribution of fleshy fungi

2. The occurrence and distribution of mycorrhizae with the roots of endemic and exotic plants

3. The distribution of rare and endangered lichens in fragmented forest ecosystems

4. The utilization of compatibility studies, RFLP analyses, and DNA sequence data to define biological and phylogenetic species in fleshy fungi.

Poster Presentations:

Dead and Lichen It: Lichen Community Structure on Gravestones.  2003.

Interspecific Hybrids of Flammulina. 2002.

Occurrence of Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Associations in species of Aeonium from the Canary Islands.  2002.

Phaeophyscia leana - A Lichen Species at the Edge. 2002.

Recent Grants

Jul 2002-Jun 2003.  Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Division of Natural Heritage, Wildlife Preservation Fund, Small Project Program. Effect of forest alteration on macrofungi at Baber's Woods. $1000

Jul 2001-Jun 2002. Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Division of Natural Heritage, Wildlife Preservation Fund, Small Project Program (with Robert Gillespie). Phaeophyscia leana: A lichen on the edge. $1000.

Herr, J.R. (*), A.S. Methven, and S.L. Miller. 2002. Searching for apomorphic characters in the genus Lactarius: which characters support phylogenetic classes for North America? Annual Meeting, Mycological Society of America, Corvallis, OR.

Methven, A.S., M.E. Mort, K.W. Hughes, and R.H. Petersen. 2002. Interspecific hybrids of Flammulina. Annual Meeting, Mycological Society of America, Corvallis, OR.

Cerveny, T.L.(*), A.S. Methven, and M.E. Mort. 2002. Occurrence of vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizal associations in species of Aeonium from the Canary Islands. National Meeting, Council on Undergraduate Research, New London, CT.

Armstrong, T.M.(*), and A.S. Methven. 2002. An improved method of in vitro production of Cyathus stercoreus gastrocarps. National Meeting, Council on Undergraduate Research, New London, CT.

Gillespie, R.N. (*), and A.S. Methven. 2002. Phaeophyscia leana – A lichen species at the edge. Annual Meeting, Illinous State Academy of Science, Edwardsville, IL.

Methven, A.S., and M.E. Mort. 2002. Interspecific hybrids of Flammulina. Annual Meeting, Illinois State Academy of Science, Edwardsville, IL.

Cerveny, T.L.(*), A.S. Methven, and M.E. Mort. 2002. Occurrence of vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizal associations in species of Aeonium from the Canary Islands. Annual Meeting, Illinois State Academy of Science, Edwardsville, IL.

Methven, A.S. 2001. The genus Flammulina story: There's more than one fungus among us. Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL.

Herr, J.R.(*), A.S. Methven, and S.L. Miller. 2001. Molecular systematics of the genus Lactarius (Russulaceae, Russulales) from North America. Annual Meeting, Mycological Society of America, Salt Lake City, UT.

Methven, A.S., M.E. Mort, K.H. Hughes, and R.H. Petersen. 2001. Interspecific hybrids of Flammulina. Annual Evolution Meetings, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN.

Methven, A.S., M.E. Mort, J.A. McGaughey, K. Fairfield (*), D. Wagner (*), and J. Ward (*).

2001. Hybrid populations of Flammulina. Annual Meeting, Illinois State Academy of Science, Macomb, IL.

Armstrong, T. M., and A. S. Methven. 2001. An improved method of in vitro production of Cyathus stercoreus gastrocarps. Annual Meeting, Illinois State Academy of Science, Macomb, IL.

Methven, A.S. 2001. The genus Flammulina story: There's more than one fungus among us. University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, CO.

*= Student Author