Fungal ecology is a growing, dynamic, and multifaceted field at the interface of systematics, bioinformatics, evolutionary biology, technical innovation, molecular biology, and the ecology of populations, communities, and landscapes. The Fungal Environmental Sampling and Informatics Network (FESIN), a research coordination network supported by the National Science Foundation, seeks to coordinate the development of new linkages between ecologists and mycologists as a means to expand our understanding of the diversity, phylogenetic structure, and ecological roles of fungal communities, to improve our ability to capture and interpret data regarding fungi in environmental settings, and to train a new generation of fungal ecologists through educational innovation. This session will bring together mycologists and ecologists who work at the forefront of fungal ecology. We seek to encompass perspectives on several frontiers in the ecology of plant-fungal interactions: from pathogens to mutualists, from global change to the local effects of microbial symbionts that in turn inhabit fungal symbionts of plants, we hope to capture the energy and dynamism of fungal ecology. This session will complement the FESIN workshop that will be held in conjunction with ESA (immediately preceding the ESA meeting).