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14 Facts About Toby Kiers

1.

Toby Kiers is an American evolutionary biologist who is a University Research Chair and professor at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

2.

Toby Kiers co-founded the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks.

3.

Toby Kiers attended The Mountain School in Vermont for her fall 1992 high school semester.

4.

Toby Kiers did research in Panama and Japan after her degree before being appointed professor at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

5.

Toby Kiers is a Senior Research Associate at the University of Oxford.

6.

Toby Kiers is best known for her work on mycorrhizal networks, studying the rates of exchange of nutrients.

7.

Toby Kiers's observations are that fungi in the soil behave as economic agents in a free-market system, supplying more phosphorus to plants that are able to deliver more sugar in exchange.

8.

Toby Kiers's research is supported by the European Research Council, the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research and the National Science Foundation.

9.

Toby Kiers has been a speaker at Brave New World events, at Ars Electronica Gardens and at Cambridge University.

10.

Toby Kiers helped to create an art installation with Isaac Monte and worked with designer Niels Hoebers to create an animated short film as a visual aid for her research presentations.

11.

Toby Kiers has launched a non-profit organization called Society for the Protection of Underground Networks dedicated to informing the public about mycorrhizal networks, protecting biodiversity hotspots, and promoting further research.

12.

Toby Kiers founded SPUN to map the biodiversity of the Earth's mycorrhizal communities.

13.

Toby Kiers is married to the poet Cralan Kelder and has two children.

14.

Toby Kiers has been a strong advocate against bioengineered food, demanding that labels clearly indicate the presence of genetically engineered ingredients.