Diagnosticians Gathered for the Second Offering of MFIT Workshops

The Morphological Fungal Identification Techniques (MFIT) workshops were offered for a second year on February 25-27, 2025 and April 8-10, 2025 at the USDA Plant Pathogen Confirmatory Diagnostics Laboratory in Maryland. National Mycologists, Dr. Megan Romberg and Dr. John McKemy, with USDA-APHIS-PPQ, created and delivered these workshops.

The idea of providing an in-depth, fungal identification workshop was developed after Romberg provided several similar but brief training sessions at NPDN national meetings. Offering a 3-day session allows the instructors the time needed to convey key identification methods, to provide hands-on experience identifying example fungi, and to introduce and practice with the essential references they use.

The first year of offering the MFIT Workshops demonstrated the need for this type of training. After quickly filling the 16 available spaces in two sessions, an additional 41 diagnosticians requested to be placed on a waitlist. Implementation of a new application process in 2025 allowed applicants to convey their interest in the workshop and to share why they needed this type of training. This information was used to improve the participant selection process over the first come, first served registration method used in 2024.

The primary challenge with offering this training is the funding needed to cover travel expenses and workshop materials. The MFIT Workshops are funded through the USDA-APHIS Plant Pest and Disease Management and Disaster Prevention Program under PPA 7721.

The workshop coordinators and instructors developed an online MFIT preparation course as part of this year’s work plan. This was their first attempt to produce an online course and that coupled with the volume of content was a challenge that required more time than planned. The prep course was not available prior to the first MFIT workshop in February but was offered in April. The MFIT preparation course includes a pre-test, four content modules and a post-test. Module one covers conidia shapes, module two covers modes of conidiogenesis, module three covers the ascomycete group, and module four covers common terms, including some newly introduced terms and all the terms covered in modules 1-3. Each content module includes a review of the topic terms with definitions and is followed by a review exercise. All Learn Upon users have access to and are welcome to take the MFIT preparation course whenever it is convenient for them to do so. We hope this may be helpful when training new staff members. We will notify the NPDN community when the course becomes available for all. There are plans to build on this course, adding modules about other fungal groups.

Here's what participants had to say about the 2025 MFIT workshops

This workshop is greatly needed as trainings on morphological features is rare at universities, yet most pathogens encountered in a diagnostic lab are fungal.

The candy shape exercise will definitely help me describe spores better in the future.

I have truly learned a tremendous amount of information that will be invaluable to my career in plant pathology.

I loved the variety of exercises; they made you tackle the “problem” in slightly different ways…

The lectures and activities have connected the dots together in a way that leaves me with a newfound sense of understanding and excitement to get back to work!

Funding to offer a third year of this valuable training has been received. Details about the 2026 MFIT workshop registration process will be released in late summer 2025. The 2026 schedule will be very similar to 2025, which can be viewed online.

Be sure to check the NPDN Portal Workshops page, for more information and planning process updates.

MFIT Workshop Participants, February 25-27, 2025

MFIT Workshop Participants, April 8-10, 2025