Identifying patterns of biological diversity and the underlying processes that create and maintain such patterns are fundamental questions in evolutionary biology. Our research integrates studies of fungal biodiversity and molecular phylogenetic analyses with data from such disciplines as genetics, ecology and geography to address broad questions of how these biological and physical processes interact to drive evolution. Our work focuses on the diversity, systematics and evolution of understudied groups of Basidiomycete and Ascomycete fungi, fungal diversity studies of various habitats, regions and ecosystems, foliar fungal endophytes and fungal bioluminescence. We are also very interested in conservation biology and the roles that both mycology and phylogenetic systematics have to play in this field. The Perry lab is part of the Department of Biological Sciences at California State University East Bay. Please explore this site to learn more about our current research projects, lab personel and our collaborations with researchers from around the globe.