I grew up in Whitefish, Montana and completed my bachelors and masters degrees at Montana State University in Bozeman. As an undergraduate I studied the diversity of fungal endophytes in threatened whitebark pine trees (Pinus albicaulis). My masters research focused on understanding the diversity and distribution of the fungal genus Russula in the Rocky Mountain alpine zone. Russula species form ectomycorrhizal relationships with various plant species and in the Rocky Mountain alpine they are mainly associated with dwarf willow (Salix sp.). My Research uncovered ten species of Russula, most of which have large, intercontinental distributions in Arctic and alpine habitats of North America and Europe.