Dennis E. Desjardin teaches biology at San Francisco State University. He received a master's degree from San Francisco State University and a PhD from the University of Tennessee. Desjardin is a fellow of the Mycological Society of America, and a winner of the Alexopoulos Prize for outstanding research, the William H. Weston Award for teaching excellence, and a fellowship with the California Academy of Sciences. He has published over 140 scientific papers on the taxonomy and evolution of mushroom-forming fungi.