Mycorrhizal outreach: what is there and what can we do considering the current global change scenario

SILVA-FLORES PATRICIA; ARGUELLES-MOYAO ANDRÉS; AGUILAR ANA; SIMÕES CALAÇA FRANCISCO; DUCHICELA JESSICA; FERNÁNDEZ NATALIA VERÓNICA; FURTADO ARIADNE; GUERRA-SIERRA BEATRIZ; LOVERA MILAGROS; MARIN CESAR; NEVES MARIA ALICE; PEZZANI FABIANA; RINALDI ANDREA; ROJAS KRYSTEL; VASCO-PALACIOS AIDA

Plants, People, Planet

New Phytologist Foundation

Lugar: Lancaster; Año: 2021

In order to strengthen society`s course of action in the current global change crisis, scientific outreach has become a particularly important duty for scientists for shortening the gap between scientists and the public. Mycorrhizal fungi and mycorrhizal symbiosis are key components of ecosystems and significantly contribute to endure and reduce some negative global change effects it is becoming widely acknowledged in the academic world but not with the public outside academia. The aim of this article is to encourage as many as possible mycorrhiza related researchers around the world in building a fluent bridge between their science and the public by doing mycorrhizal outreach. For this, we made a revision and discussed about global change and its relation with mycorrhiza and mycorrhizal outreach. We highlight potential publics, tools, resources, activities, models of outreach, pros and cons as well as the potential of quantification of the success of activities. We open an invitation to all mycorrhiza related researchers around the world to contribute with mycorrhizal outreach material. This will be posted in the South American Mycorrhizal Research Network web page in order to serve as a source for those who wants to start or innovate in mycorrhizal outreach activities. Finally, the hashtag #mycorrhizaloutreach is proposed to be used whenever a mycorrhizal related outreach activity is shared in social media. We think that this will connect a community of scientists committed to outreach and ultimately with global change alleviation.