Roy Edward Halling (born December 31, 1950, in

Perry, Iowa Perry is a city in Dallas County, Iowa, United States, along the North Raccoon River. The population was 7,836 at the time of the 2020 Census. It is part of the Des Moines–West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area. Formerly a major rail ...

) is 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 ...

. Halling specializes in the study of

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is t ...

-forming

fungi A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...

, especially the

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

, and

systematics Biological systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: cladograms, phylogenetic tre ...

of the Boletineae, a

suborder Order ( la, ordo) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and ...

of the

Boletales The Boletales are an order of Agaricomycetes containing over 1300 species with a diverse array of fruiting body types. The boletes are the best known members of this group, and until recently, the Boletales were thought to only contain boletes. ...

, and is widely published in this area. He is currently emeritus curator of mycology at the

New York Botanical Garden The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) is a botanical garden at Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York City. Established in 1891, it is located on a site that contains a landscape with over one million living plants; the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, ...

, and was an adjunct professor at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. Halling received his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

from

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...

in 1976, with a thesis titled "The Boletaceae of the Sierra Nevada", under the supervision of

Harry Delbert Thiers Harry Delbert Thiers (January 22, 1919 in Fort McKavett, Texas – August 8, 2000 in Ohio) was an American mycologist who studied and named many fungi native to North America, particularly California. Thiers taught mycology at San Francisco St ...

. His PhD was from the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...

, in 1980 with a dissertation titled "The genus ''Collybia'' in New England. His supervisor was Howard E. Bigelow. Halling has served as the associate editor of the journal ''Brittonia'' (1984–1989), the managing editor of ''

Mycologia ''Mycologia'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that publishes papers on all aspects of the fungi, including lichens. It first appeared as a bimonthly journal in January 1909, published by the New York Botanical Garden under the editorship of W ...

'' (1986–1996), and as the associate editor of the latter journal from 2002–2004. Halling was the president of the

Mycological Society of America The Mycological Society of America (MSA) is a learned society that serves as the professional organization of mycologists in the U.S. and Canada. It was founded in 1932. The Society's constitution states that "The purpose of the Society is to promo ...

in 2008–2009.

Selected publications

*Halling, R.E. 1989
"Notes on ''Collybia'' III. Three neotropical species of subg. ''Rhodocollybia''".
''Mycologia'' 81(6):870–875. *Tulloss, R.E.; Ovrebo, C.L.; Halling, R.E. 1992. "Studies on ''Amanita'' (Amanitaceae) from Andean Colombia". ''Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden'' 66:1–46. *Mueller, G.M.; Halling, R.E. 1995. "Evidence for high biodiversity of Agaricales (Fungi) in neotropical montane ''Quercus'' forests". In: S. Churchill, H. Balslev, E. Forero, & J. Luteyn, (eds.). Biodiversity and Conservation of Neotropical Montane Forests. New York Botanical Garden, Bronx. *Halling, R.E. 1996. "Boletaceae (Agaricales): Latitudinal biodiversity and biological interactions in Costa Rica and Colombia". ''Revista de Biología Tropical'' 44(Supplement 4):111–114. *Antonín, V.; Halling, R.E.; Noordeloos, M.E. 1997

"Mycotaxon" 63:359–368 *Fulgenzi, T.D.; Mayor, J.R.; Henkel, T.W; Halling, R.E. 2008. "New species of ''Boletellus'' from Guyana." ''Mycologia'' 100(30):490–495.

References

External links

San Francisco State University alumni University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni American mycologists 1950 births Living people {{Mycologist-stub