Dr Genevieve Gates

Awarded for service to education and training; environment; science and research

Born: 18 November 1952

Entered on roll: 2023

"Expert mycologist"

Genevieve Gates is an internationally renowned mycologist who encourages the community to learn about fungi.

Genevieve developed an interest in fungi in the 1990s through her involvement in the Tasmanian Field Naturalists Club.

Her PhD included a 14-month survey of a single hectare of Tasmanian bush, where she found 850 fungi species.

Genevieve co-authored A Field Guide to Tasmanian Fungi in 2014. This book contains about 600 common Tasmanian fungal species, and the photos (many of which she took) were collected during about 1,000 field trips. The Field Guide was updated in 2016 to include another 50 fungi. She co-authored FungiFlip – a water-resistant, fold out pictorial guide to Tasmanian fungi in 2018.

Genevieve has contributed thousands of fungi to institutions in Tasmania and Victoria. As a volunteer at the Tasmanian Herbarium, she provides advice regarding fungi ingestion to Tasmanian medical staff. Genevieve has personally identified over 70 new species and has two species named after her – Lactifluus genevieveae and Fomitiporia gatesiae.

Genevieve is an Honorary Research Associate at the University of Tasmania and volunteers around the world teaching mycology. She learned Spanish to communicate better with students in South America. She is Professor and mycologist in residence at Amazonian State University, Puyo, Ecuador, and Professor and mycologist at the National University of San Antonio Abad del Cusco. She received an award for her teaching in South America in 2017.

Genevieve established the Tasmanian Fungi Facebook page in 2014. By 2022, the page had 18,000 members. She established the Field Naturalists of Tasmania Facebook page in 2015, with over 8,000 members. Genevieve posts photographs and identifies specimens frequently, including on the Facebook pages Fungi of Ecuador, and Fungi of Latin America.

Genevieve was awarded life membership to the Tasmanian Field Naturalists Club in 2019 and received the Australian Natural History Medallion in 2022.