Archive · 2 Feb 2026
Toby Kiers Wins Tyler Prize for Fungal Research
Toby Kiers, a scientist who studies fungi, just won a big award called the Tyler Prize.
She studies tiny fungi that live underground and help plants grow.
These fungi are super important because they help store a lot of carbon from the air, which is good for fighting climate change.
Toby and her team found out that these fungi are really smart and can even trade nutrients like a stockbroker.
She also started a group called SPUN to protect these fungi and teach others about them.
She thinks that in a few years, more people will start talking about how important fungi are for our planet.
Toby Kiers won the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement for her work on mycorrhizal fungi.
Mycorrhizal fungi form vast underground networks that sequester 13 billion tons of CO2 annually.
Kiers' research shows that fungi engage in strategic trading of nutrients, similar to economic systems.
She founded SPUN, a global network to protect and study underground fungal networks.
Kiers believes 2026 will be a significant year for fungal restoration efforts.
- Who
- Toby Kiers, an evolutionary biologist at Vrije University Amsterdam
- What
- Awarded the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement for her work on mycorrhizal fungi
- When
- Last month
- Where
- Netherlands
- Why
- For her significant contributions to understanding and protecting underground fungal networks
- Award
- Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement
- Recipient
- Toby Kiers
- Field of Study
- Mycorrhizal Fungi
- Organization
- Vrije University Amsterdam
- Carbon Sequestration
- 13 billion tons of CO2 annually
- Fungal Network Span
- Half the galaxy if laid end to end
- Society Founded
- Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN)
- Initiative
- Underground Advocates