Authors

James Trappe

Jim was born in Spokane, Washington in 1931. He earned a B.S. in Forestry at the University of Washington in 1954, an M.F. from the State University of New York College of Forestry at Syracuse in 1956, and a Ph.D. in Forestry at the University of Washington, where he studied the ecology and physiology of the mycorrhizal fungus Cenococcum graniforme for his thesis. After graduation Jim held a series of research positions with the U. S. Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, retiring as project leader for forest mycology and pathology at Corvallis in 1986. He then was appointed Professor of Forest Science at Oregon State University, a position from which he retired in 1996. Jim's research passion over the years has been taxonomy and ecology of truffle-like fungi. He has collected specimens on 5 continents and several Pacific Islands and has described 3 new families, 25 new genera and subgenera and 120 new species. More are in preparation! Currently he has major projects in Australia and Oregon. His retirement, he says, "was from job stuff I didn't like to do, so that I can spend my time on what I love to do…studying truffles."