Considering so little is known about the ectomycorrhizal fungi species of Terra Nova National Park, or of the island of Newfoundland, one of the thing Dr. Murrin set out to do was an inventory of ectomycorrhizal mushrooms of mature and disturbed fir stands in the Park. Over a three year period the goal was to produce species descriptions and a regional identification key to the species of  ectomycorrhizal fungi associated with Balsam Fir. Several thousand collections and five years of data collection from 2000-2004 resulted resulted in the identification of approximately 180 species of ectomycorrhizal fungi associated with Balsam Fir and other species in the Park. Most recently, 2005 and 2006 they have used these data as the basis for quantitative studies on disturbance effects.
  Further studies will focus on ectomycorrhizal fungal communities associated with mature and disturbed Balsam Fir within Terra Nova National Park and the assessment of disturbance on these communities and on forest structure. This area of research comes  with a sense of urgency as increasing environmental stress and the accompanying decrease in biodiversity foreshadows a decline in the stability of ecosystems worldwide. In Terra Nova National Park, Balsam Fir stands are being replaced by Black Spruce as a result of natural and anthropogenic activities, decreasing biodiversity within the Boreal Forest.
Much of Dr. Murrin’s research has focused on Entomophaga aulicae which is an aggressive pathogen of forest pests such a hemlock looper and spruce budworm. Considering the power of these insects to alter the composition of vast areas of forest in the Boreal research on this key controller to their population is crucial. This fungus undergoes a unique developmental sequence during infection of it host, that can be reproduced in the lab. this allows Dr. Murrin and her colleagues to examine the organization and function of the cytoskeleton of insect pathogenic fungi. What they have found is that In the hemolymph of its larval host, it produces a wall-free protoplast which exhibits a complex shape and undulating movements!!!
Fungi are critical to ecosystem function in a variety of ways including in their roles as saprotrophs, pathogens and symbionts.

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