So many of the organisms shaping life on Earth are invisible to the naked eye. UC Riverside mycologist Sydney Glassman’s studies of these hidden fungi and soil microbes has earned her the most prestigious award for early career scientists in her field from the Mycological Society of America.
Only one mycologist in the country wins the C.J. Alexopoulous Prize each year, based on the quality, quantity, and originality of their published research. It is considered a major career milestone, and a strong predictor of future achievement.
“This award means so much to me,” Glassman said. “To be recognized as the most promising young mycologist from the society is an honor and I'm thrilled to be joining the ranks of many venerated and productive mycologists throughout the years.”
One of those venerated mycologists includes Constantine John Alexopoulous, for whom the prize is named. He authored the landmark textbook Introductory Mycology, which was first published in 1952 and has served as the standard global text for generations of students.
Past winners have gone on to lead world-class research and conservation organizations. For example, Gregory Mueller is currently the chief scientist and vice president of science at the Chicago Botanic Garden, and Pedro Crous is longtime director of the Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute in the Netherlands, one of the world’s most important fungal culture collections.
The award also puts Glassman in the company of UCR Professor Jason Stajich, who won in 2014. Stajich is known for using a variety of cutting-edge techniques, such as DNA analysis, computer modeling, evolutionary biology, and lab experiments to study how fungi interact with other microbes, plants, and animals.
Glassman’s own research has long followed the hidden life of soil fungi and microbes. For her master’s degree at the University of Pennsylvania, she studied arbuscular mycorrhizae, a type of beneficial fungus that lives in partnership with plant roots. These fungi help plants absorb nutrients like phosphorus from the soil, and in return the plants feed sugars to the fungi.
For her doctorate from UC Berkeley, she studied reserves of ectomycorrhizal fungal spores in soil that can survive for long periods. When the right plants grow nearby, the spores germinate and form partnerships with plant roots, helping forests establish and grow.
Glassman’s postdoctoral research shifted to communities of bacteria and fungi that break down dead plants and organic matter, recycling nutrients and keeping ecosystems functioning.
She joined the Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology at UCR in 2018 and became an associate professor with tenure in 2024.
Currently, her lab studies the fungi and bacteria that thrive in burned areas after wildfires. These organisms can help burned areas recover and come back to life after wildfires, which are occurring with increasing size and frequency.
Though she is considered to be early in her career, Glassman is also a mentor to other even earlier-career scientists. She has graduated three doctoral mycology students, has three currently in her lab, and has trained three post-doctoral scholars, four lab techs, and over 20 undergraduate researchers.
UC Berkeley Professor Thomas Bruns, with whom she studied, nominated her for the award.
“Overall, her record of productivity and accomplishment, and her innate scientific interest and drive places her among the very best young mycologists I have known,” he said.