Margaret Brooks Church (1889–1976) was an American
mycologist
Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungus, fungi, including their genetics, genetic and biochemistry, biochemical properties, their Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and ethnomycology, their use to humans, including as a so ...
who specialized in ''
Aspergillus'' and other fungi involved in food fermentation.
She co-authored the first manual on ''
Aspergillus'' with
Charles Thom and worked with Thom on his treatise on ''
Penicillium''.
She was the first westerner to study the ang-khak fermentation of rice using ''
Monascus purpureus'' (see: Church, 1920), and studied other Asian soy fermentations involving the fungus known as ''
Aspergillus oryzae
''Aspergillus oryzae'', also known as , is a filamentous fungus (a mold) used in East Asia to saccharify rice, sweet potato, and barley in the making of alcoholic beverages such as ''sake'' and '' shōchū'', and also to ferment soybeans for m ...
''. This research culminated in her writing a
USDA bulletin entitled ''Soy and Related Fermentations'' in 1923. In 1928 she took on a role as the Head of Biology at
Urbana University
Urbana University was a private university specializing in liberal arts education and located in Urbana, Ohio. In its final few years, it was purchased by Franklin University and was a branch campus of that university.
History
Urbana University ...
,
Urbana __NOTOC__
Urbana can refer to:
Places Italy
*Urbana, Italy
United States
*Urbana, Illinois
**Urbana (conference), a Christian conference formerly held in Urbana, Illinois
*Urbana, Indiana
* Urbana, Iowa
*Urbana, Kansas
* Urbana, Maryland
*Urbana, ...
,
Ohio, before her retirement in 1939.
Selected works
*
*
*
*Thom C & Church MB. (1926) The Aspergilli. Williams & Wilkins Co., Baltimore, 272 pp.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Church, Margaret
1889 births
1976 deaths
American mycologists