Michael Malone

Background

About Michael Malone

I am a Masters student at the University of Wisconsin- La Crosse working under Dr. Todd Osmundson in the biology Department. My thesis focuses on identifying specimens of Xylariaceous fungi collected from the island of Mo'orea and arranging the species found in the study on a phylogenetic tree. The fungi will be identified using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Illumina sequencing. Once the specimens are identified, a phylogenetic tree of each species in the study will be constructed using computer code from the Cyberinfrastructure for Phylogenetic Research (CIPRES) database. To provide background for my research, Mo’orea is a Pacific Island halfway between New Zealand and South America where the 'Biocode Project' is occurring. The project’s aim is to genetically catalog the biodiversity of Mo’orea, and create an ecological model to represent other Pacific Island ecosystems. The DNA barcodes and the species identities of these fungi will contribute to the Mo’orea Biocode Project. This study will provide the first species list of Xylariaceae on Mo’orea island.