Laura Guzmán Dávalos (born 1961) is a Mexican mycologist, biologist and lichenologist. She has been the head of the botany and zoology departments at the

University of Guadalajara The University of Guadalajara () is a public university, public research university located in Guadalajara, Mexico. It was originally established in 1586 and officially founded on 12 February 1791 as the Royal and Pontifical University of Gu ...

(UdeG) from 1994 to 1998. From 2007 to 2014, she served as the general coordinator of the UdeG doctoral program in

ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

, biosystematics, and natural and agricultural resources management.

Early life and education

Guzmán-Dávalos was born in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

in 1961, and is the daughter of the well-known ethnomycologist, Gaston Guzmán (1932–2016) who devoted his life and research to mushrooms of the genus '' Psilocybe'', and their medicinal and divinatory uses of

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing Sporocarp (fungi), fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or another food source. ''Toadstool'' generally refers to a poisonous mushroom. The standard for the n ...

s by various Indigenous peoples of Mexico. Guzmán-Dávalos received a degree in biology from the National School of Biological Sciences at the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN) in 1984, and her master's degree from the National Autonomous University of Mexico in 1994. She received her doctorate degree in 2004 from the same university.

Research

Guzman-Davalos' mycological research includes the genera '' Ganoderma'', '' Psilocybe'', '' Pluteus'' and ''

Gymnopilus ''Gymnopilus'' is a genus of gilled mushrooms within the fungal family Hymenogastraceae containing over 200 rusty-orange spored mushroom species. Description The basidiocarp, fruit body is typically reddish brown to rusty orange to yellow, med ...

'' ( Cortinariaceae). She has published over 120 papers in peer-reviewed journals, seven book chapters and authored a book on lepiotaceous fungi. She has conducted mycological and lichenological exploration and field work in Belgium, China, Colombia, Cuba, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Guatemala, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom the United States and Venezuela.

Honors

* Sociedad Botánica de México. * Del Comité Ejecutivo de la International Mycological Association * International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT). * American Society of Plant Taxonomists (ASPT).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guzmán Dávalos, Laura Mexican women academics Mexican women scientists Mexican mycologists Scientists from Mexico City 1961 births Lichenologists Instituto Politécnico Nacional alumni National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni Living people