Esther Tok
Italian oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus pulmonarius) fruiting and thriving off discarded cigarette butts found on Stanford campus
Toothed jelly fungus (Pseudohydnum gelatinosum) photographed in Mendocino County, CA
About Esther Tok
I am a mycologist fascinated by the countless and complex ways that fungi interact with the world around them. I am particularly interested in fungal mutualisms and how they affect ecosystem function.
This fall, I will be studying at the University of Cambridge, advised by Professor Uta Paszkowski. Before this, I earned a Bachelor of Science with Honors from Stanford University, where I studied ecology and evolution. During my time at Stanford, I was advised by Professor Kabir Peay.
Driven by my love for all things fungal, I plan to continue to study fungi in academia while supplementing my understanding with art. Art provides an avenue to learn more about fungi in a way that meticulous lab work could never achieve—art forces you to re-examine the organisms under a different lens, and to take a closer look at the strange morphologies and settings these fungi exist in.
Slender Hyacinth-Orchid (Dipodium variegatum), a myco-heterotrophic orchid on K'gari island
What I'm
Up To:
