Dr. Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian

Curator of Mycology
518-486-4872

Ph.D., Mycology, 2020, SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry, Syracuse, NY
B.A., Biology, 2013, Wheaton College, Norton, MA

My research is focused on the biodiversity and taxonomy of fungi. Because millions of species of fungi are unknown to science, my work involves naming and describing new species. I am especially interested in understudied groups, such as insect-associated parasites and rare mushrooms in New York State. I am conducting a long-term survey of fungal diversity in the capital region to document local species, as well as monitor how they may respond to climate change. My research also involves using modern molecular techniques to re-examine the historic mycological collection housed here at NYSM.

Publications

2010

R. Kays, A. Curtis, J. Kirchman 2010, Rapid Adaptive Evolution of Northeastern Coyotes via Hybridization with Wolves, Biology Letters 6, 89-93. 10.1098/rsbl.2009.0575
J. Kirchman 2010, Carolina Parakeets. Legacy: The Magazine of the New York State Museum 6, 16
J. Kirchman 2010, Legalities and Practicalities of Salvaging of Dead Birds for Museum Specimens, The Kingbird 60, 298-300.
J. Kirchman, C. Witt, J. McGuire, G. Graves 2010, DNA from a 100-year-old Holotype Confirms the Validity of a Potentially Extinct Hummingbird Species, Biology Letters 6, 112-115. 10.1098/rsbl.2009.0545
R. Kays, A. Curtis, J. Kirchman 2010, Reply to Wheeldon et al. ’Colonization History and Ancestry of Northeastern Coyotes’, Biology Letters 6, 248-249. 10.1098/rsbl.2009.1022

2009

J. Kirchman 2009, Genetic Tests of Rapid Parallel Speciation of Flightless Birds from an Extant Volant Ancestor, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 96, 601-616. 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2008.01160.x
R. Feranec, J. Cryan, J. Kirchman 2009, Evolution Every Day. Legacy: The Magazine of the New York State Museum 4, 10-11
J. Kirchman 2009, Extinct Birds. Legacy: The Magazine of the New York State Museum 4, 8-9
J. Kirchman 2009, Natural History Collections and Evolution. Legacy: The Magazine of the New York State Museum 4, 14

2008

D. Raoult, D. Reed, K. Dittmar, J. Kirchman, J-M Rolain, S. Guillen, J. Light 2008, Molecular Identification of Lice from Pre-Columbian Mummies, The Journal of Infectious Diseases 197, 535-543.