I obtained my BSc. (With Honours) in Biology at Winona State University, MN, in the United States. I then pursued my Master’s degree in clinical microbiology with an emphasis in Mycology at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, WI, studying a dimorphic pathogenic fungus, Penicillium marneffei (now Talaromyces marneffei) affecting immunocompromised patients in Southeast Asia. Following completion of my graduate studies, I worked as a Research Lab Specialist at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor on various fungal research projects, from studying the population genetics of the frog pathogen Batrachocytrium dendrobatidis to understanding the mating behaviour in white rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium. I then held a position as a Research Associate at the Department of Biological Sciences at the National University of Singapore. My assignments included documenting fungal diversity in Southeast Asian forests, from peat swamps in Brunei to the fragmented secondary forests, wooded wastelands, abandoned rubber plantations and the dipterocarp forests of Singapore through field surveys and molecular methods.