Executive Director http://SPUN.earth
Society for the Protection of Underground Networks
Professor Evolutionary Biology (VU, Amsterdam)
Mycorrhizal Fungi, Evolution of Cooperation, Symbiosis
http://tobykiers.com
Toby Kiers
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This week, I was awarded a MacArthur ‘Genius’ Grant. So proud to be included among individuals recognized for “extraordinary originality & dedication in their creative pursuits”. This research has been possible because I collaborate with the most incredible teams.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/a...
Good news, recognition for #plant #Science
www.euronews.com/green/2026/0...
SPUN and NYU Law’s More-than-Human Life (MOTH) Program have partnered on a new initiative to support SPUN’s Underground Explorers grantees in advocating for mycorrhizal fungal communities across Earth's ecosystems.
🔗 Find out more about the Underground Advocates Program: buff.ly/KhbJmvS
We need to make #worldsoilday more about the soils of THE WHOLE WORLD.
Across African datasets, there are fewer than 5 mycorrhizal samples per 1 million square kilometers, making the continent 48 times less sampled than Europe.
Today, we celebrate SPUN’s 38 Underground Explorers across Africa 🧵
Symiotic fungi are crucial to restoration on earth's most remote island www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... @spun.earth @tobykiers.bsky.social @nature.org
👏 Twaalf jonge onderzoekers zijn door de KNAW onderscheiden met een 𝗞𝗡𝗔𝗪 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱. Met deze prijs erkent de KNAW hun wetenschappelijke talent maar ook hun rol als bijv. docent.
Benieuwd naar hun onderzoek? Kijk dan hier: www.knaw.nl/nl/nieuws/di...
Amid social protests and rising tensions in Ecuador, dozens of bank accounts that belong to Indigenous leaders and organizations, land rights activists and nonprofits have been reportedly frozen for weeks, by order of the state.
Sources told Mongabay their accounts froze suddenly without warning.
With Merlin Sheldrake, @tobykiers.bsky.social, @hhwalter.bsky.social, & Fungi Foundation’s Giuliana Furci, we’re mapping deep soil fungi in the high-altitude grasslands of Peru. Special thanks to Cosmo Sheldrake, elders from the Q'ero and Ccorca communities and Miski Tours.
📸 Tomás Munita
Recently, we mapped endemic fungal networks in Zagori 🇬🇷 with @seanmaston.bsky.social, @vkokkoris.bsky.social and team.
Vikos Gorge is a hotspot for endangered species, with underground systems supported by rock formations ~160 million yrs old.
We're now returning to cover more ground.
Congrats to Executive Director @tobykiers.bsky.social on being named a 2025 #MacFellow by the MacArthur Foundation (buff.ly/HOU1qb7). Also called the “Genius Grant,” it’s one of the largest awards in the US, honoring exceptionally talented and creative individuals.
Shout out to fellow awardees! 👏
Symbioses can be vital on islands, where low species diversity leaves few alternative partners and the failure of associations can cascade into broade…
Since September 2025, dozens of Indigenous leaders and organizations, land rights activists and nonprofits in Ecuador have reportedly been unable to access their funds, after a state institution…
