"Student: I've got the fungi bug. No hike will ever be the same"
By Karyn Houston, Plant & Microbial Biology
Thomas Bruns has been awarded Outstanding Teacher at the College of Natural Resources by a grateful student body and academic peers who are in awe of an outstanding professor who makes fungi exciting and interesting.
Bruns, a renowned expert in the field of mycology (that’s the study of fungi) takes classes on field trips to Mendocino and Yosemite, has the respect of colleagues across campus and across the world, and earns overwhelming praise from UC Berkeley students.
“Professor Bruns is an outstanding teacher at all levels,” said Robert Fischer, chair of Plant & Microbial Biology in the College of Natural Resources at UC Berkeley. “He is very highly regarded for the quality of his courses and his capabilities as an instructor. Bruns has developed several new courses in mycology that are widely appreciated by students, especially because of their field component. Bruns has also been a successful graduate student mentor and many of his students are now well placed at faculty positions in the US and abroad.”
“The course that most amazes me is Bruns’ PMB 113 California Mushrooms, which Bruns created in 2001,” said Professor John Taylor, who nominated Bruns for the teaching award and works closely with him. The course is focused on a “very impractical” corner of biology, one that satisfies no major requirement.
It includes three weekend field trips and weekly labs and is “a rousing success,” Taylor said.
Bruns, who is also Associate Chair of the department, works extensively mentoring Graduate Student Instructors, who assist with the teaching of PMB 113 and PMB 110 (Biology of Fungi). He works closely with graduate students in his lab, and they have gone on to become fungi experts on their own in labs and at universities worldwide.
The field of mycology has exploded in the past 20 years due to molecular methods of identification. Bruns was a driving force in creating the field of fungal molecular ecology.
As data has grown he has been able to keep tabs on it, always a challenge for scientists and researchers. He initiated a database of fungi collected on his field trips to Mendocino that is the best long-term record for any area of California.
As for teaching, Bruns is consistently ranked highly in surveys of students who take his classes. “We all stand in Bruns’ shadow when it comes to instruction,” Taylor said.
Bruns has also taught:
- ESPM 134 - Insects, Fire and Disease in Forest Ecosystems
- ESPM 131 Soil Microbial Ecology
- Plant Pathology 206 - Fungi in relation to Plant Disease
- ESPM 133 – Forest Insects and Disease
- ESPM 101A- Resource Ecology Summer Camp
- IB 149 - Molecular Ecology
- PMB 220 - Critical thinking in microbiology
Additional comments about Bruns from students:
This is absolutely the best class I have taken at Berkeley.
I found the whole course to be very interesting and it really made me fall in love with mycology.
Awesome class. I loved every part of this class! Field trips were excellent.
Professor Bruns is incredibly knowledgeable on the subject, as well as approachable. I always felt like he made time to personally clarify any questions I had about the subject.
I was terrified when I first began this course because I’m an L&S student and this was my first foray into the College of Natural Resources. Professor Bruns was accessible, passionate and willing to work with students to ensure maximum learning. I could not have been more impressed and happy with my experience. This has been, hands down, the best/most informative class I’ve taken at Cal.
My favorite class at Berkeley thus far. The Mendocino trip was amazing!
Lecture with Bruns was like story time. He obviously cares a lot, and that is exciting.
Thank you so much! … Close to the love I still feel for my third grade teacher. This course was very special.
Link to Tom Bruns faculty page on the PMB web site.