Brian Martin Spooner (born 1951) is an English

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their taxonomy, genetics, biochemical properties, and use by humans. Fungi can be a source of tinder, food, traditional medicine, as well as entheogens, poison, and ...

who was head of mycology at the

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,10 ...

. He was born in

Rochford Rochford is a town and civil parish in the Rochford (district), Rochford District in Essex, England, north of Southend-on-Sea, from London and from Chelmsford. At the 2011 census, the Civil parishes in England, civil parish had a population ...

, Essex. in 1951. He obtained his first degree in 1972 from the University of London. He joined the staff at the

Herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant biological specimen, specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sh ...

, Kew in 1975 to undertake a study of

ascomycetes Ascomycota is a phylum of the kingdom Fungi that, together with the Basidiomycota, forms the subkingdom Dikarya. Its members are commonly known as the sac fungi or ascomycetes. It is the largest phylum of Fungi, with over 64,000 species. The de ...

under the guidance of Dr R W G Dennis, who had retired that year. He had a long term research project on the inoperculate

Discomycetes Discomycetes is a former taxonomic class of Ascomycete fungi which contains all of the cup, sponge and brain fungi, and some club-like fungi. It includes typical cup fungi like the scarlet elf cup and the orange peel fungus, and fungi with frui ...

of Australia. He was promoted to Higher Scientific Officer in 1979 and awarded a Ph.D. from

Reading University The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...

in 1985 for his thesis "Helotiales of Australasia". He was appointed head of mycology in 1998. He is the author of several books and over 200 research papers. His main research interest was with the discomycetes, but he also did research on other ascomycetous groups, as well as other British fungi. His work at Kew additionally included routine identifications and curation of the Ascomycetes Reference Collection. He was responsible for moving the mycology collection from the

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant biological specimen, specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sh ...

to the

Jodrell Laboratory Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1759, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...

. He has participated in field expeditions and biodiversity projects in Malaysia and Australia. He regularly leads fungus forays for the

British Mycological Society The British Mycological Society is a learned society established in 1896 to promote the study of fungi. Formation The British Mycological Society (BMS) was formed by the combined efforts of two local societies: the Woolhope Naturalists' Fiel ...

, on Box Hill, and in Surrey. In 1990 he was honoured by a new genus named for him, Spooneromyces. He retired in 2011 after 36 years at Kew. He married Linda Strang in 1975 and lives in West

Molesey Molesey is a suburban district comprising two large villages, East Molesey and West Molesey, in the Borough of Elmbridge, Surrey, England. Molesey is within the Greater London Built-up Area, and is situated on the south bank of the River Thames ...

Selected publications

*Helotiales of Australasia: Geoglossaceae, Orbiliaceae, Sclerotiniaceae, Hyaloscyphaceae. Bibliotheca Mycologica, 116. Brian Spooner. 1987. Gebruder Borntraeger Verlagsbuchhandlung *Mushrooms: the new compact study guide and identifier. David N. Pegler, Brian Spooner, 1994. *British Puffballs, Earthstars and Stinkhorns; an account of the British gasteroid fungi. David N. Pegler, Brian Spooner, Thomas Læssøe. 1995. *Mushrooms & Toadstools of Britain and Europe. Brian Spooner. 1996. Harper Collins *British Chanterelles and Tooth Fungi. David N. Pegler, Peter Roberts, Brian Spooner 1997. *Henosepilachna argus (Geoffroy) (Coccinellidae, Epilachninae), a phytophagous ladybird new to the U.K., breeding at Molesey, Surrey. Ian S. Menzies & Brian M. Spooner. 2000. The Coleopterist 9(1) 1-4

*On the unreliability of published DNA sequences. Bridge PD, Roberts PJ, Spooner BM, Panchal G. 2003. New Phytologist 160(1):43-48. *Richard William George Dennis (1910–2003): Mycologist and savant. Spooner, B. & Roberts, P. (2004). Mycological Research, 108(9), 1097-1104. *Mushrooms & Toadstools: Get to Know the Natural World (Collins Wild Guide). Brian Spooner. 2005. *Checklist of the British and Irish Basidiomycota. G. E. Wickens, N. W. Legon, A. Henrici, P. J. Roberts, B. M. Spooner, R. Watling, Royal Botanic Gardens. 2005. *Fungi (Collins New Naturalist #96). Brian Spooner, Peter Roberts. 2007. Harper Collins *Checklist of the British & Irish Basidiomycota. Nick Legon, Alick Henrici, Peter Roberts, Brian Spooner, Roy Watling 2014. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew *J. M. Despréaux' lichens from the Canary Islands and West Africa: an account of a 19th century collection found in an English archive. Begoña Aguirre-Hudson 1, Isabella Whitworth, Brian M Spooner. 2011. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 166(2) 185–211

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spooner, Brian 1951 births People from Rochford Botanists with author abbreviations British botanists Botanists active in Kew Gardens English mycologists Living people Cecidologists