Dr. Harris possesses almost 40 years of experience working on the physiology, genetics, molecular biology, cell biology, and genomics of yeasts and filamentous fungi. As an independent investigator, his research program has sought to understand the mechanisms underlying hyphal morphogenesis in the model filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans as well as other members of the genera Aspergillus and Penicillium. More recent efforts have focused on characterization of adaptations that enable fungi to colonize extreme environments. The latter project includes extensive field surveys focused on the isolation and identification of extremotolerant fungi. His research program has been supported by funding from NSF, NASA, and the Canadian agencies NSERC, CIHR, and CFI. Dr. Harris also has considerable experience teaching biology and mycology courses to an audience largely composed of pre-health majors. He currently serves as a Department Chair with a research appointment.