The Ecological Society of America on April 15 announced recipients of its 2026 fellowship awards. Claire Willing, the John C. Garcia Professor in the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, was named an Early Career Fellow, which recognizes scientists for contributions to advancing and applying ecological knowledge within eight years of completing a doctorate.

Elinor Fajer

Claire Willing investigating the post-fire microbial communities associated with giant sequoia seedlings.

Willing studies how microbes respond, and help plants cope with, environmental change. Her lab focuses on fungi and other microbes living near plant roots. Much like the gut microbiome, these communities play a critical role in plant nutrition, immune function and overall forest health.

Willing’s lab at the University of Washington focuses on understanding these communities and how they are shifting with climate change. Her research integrates methods from various scientific disciplines to gain insight into the ecosystem-wide impact of fungi.

“I work across pretty diverse fields, from fungal ecology to plant and forest ecology,” Willing said. “Integrating everything together is challenging, but I think it’s a critical intersection to study right now and this award is a nice acknowledgement of that.”

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