Professor Christopher Walker, Research Associate Mycology
I worked for Forestry Commission in various roles, ending up in the Physiology Branch of the Northern Research Station, Roslin, working with mycorrhiza and tree roots. I took early retirement in 1996 to allow more time to follow my interest in the taxonomy of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.
I began work as a forester in the Lake District, and then attended Gwydyr Forester Training School (Forestry Commission) to qualify professionally. After a spell in forest management in Glenlivet and Swaffham, I moved into Forest Research as an entomology forester at Alice Holt Research Station, Hampshire where I worked on insect pests of conifer plantations, and eventually on Dutch elm disease.
At Alice Holt, I studied for an Open University degree, which I gained in 1974. I then was fortunate enough to be invited to pursue a PhD at Iowa State University with Prof. Harold S McNabb, Jr. Funding for Dutch elm disease studies was closing down, so I serendipitously took an interest in mycorrhizas in Prof. McNabb's poplar research project. This led me into the study of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, and in particular, their taxonomy.
On return to the Forestry Commission in 1979, I was transferred to the Physiology Branch, headed by Dr. Mike Coutts. Eventually I was in charge of the Mycorrhiza Research Unit. Whilst carrying out large-scale trials of ectomycorrhizal fungi with Sitka spruce, I continued with taxonomic interests.
After retiring in 1996, I expanded my work on arbuscular mycorrhizas through cooperation with colleagues, mainly in Australia, Germany, Belgium, Finland and the USA, and have continued to work on their phylogeny and taxonomy. Recently I have developed an interest in the (apparently) mycorrhizal fungi that can be found in the fossilised plants in the Rhynie cherts.