INVAM

07/24/2026

Did you know? Our researchers maintain a collection of living that improve both native ecosystems and crop production. It’s the largest collection of its kind in the world, an international resource for research, and it requires constant care. But funding for its maintenance is uncertain.

A challenge gift of $24,000 in support of the collection has been set up and will be released after 50 donors have made gifts.

Those gifts can be any size. Like $5.

More about the International Collection of Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (INVAM):
🍄‍🟫 Stories about it have been published in The Guardian, Smithsonian Magazine and Sierra Magazine.
🍄‍🟫 It’s been maintained for more than 40 years.
🍄‍🟫 It’s a key resource for scientists, educators and researchers who study plant health, agriculture, ecology and climate resilience.
🍄‍🟫 Researchers from around the world rely on the collection, request samples from it and draw upon INVAM’s species descriptions, cultivation methods and guidance to support their work.

If you’d like to provide support, any amount, please click the link in the comments below. And please share.

07/13/2026

🍄 Support INVAM: Preserving a living collection of beneficial fungi

The International Collection of Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (INVAM) at the University of Kansas maintains the world’s largest living collection of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. These tiny organisms form ancient partnerships with plants that help support healthier roots, soils, and ecosystems. Unlike a traditional collection stored on a shelf, INVAM is alive. Maintaining these fungal cultures requires greenhouse space, supplies, and scientific expertise.

We are launching a fundraising campaign to help sustain this globally important resource and ensure researchers worldwide continue to have access to these unique fungal cultures.

Learn more and support INVAM:
https://launchku.org/campaigns/support-invam

01/21/2026

For a team of researchers at KU, fungal doomsday looks less like parasitic mushrooms transforming people into zombies, and more like the loss of a fungi collection that serves as a major global resource for sustainability and restoration.

01/08/2026

The INVAM at the Kansas Bio Survey & Center for Ecological Research, MycoBloom, prairies, and commercial inocula are all covered in this neat feature:

These fungi boost plant growth and restore depleted ecosystems, but federal funding for a library housing them has been cut – and it may be forced to close