Robert Joseph Bandoni (11 November 1926 – 5 May 2009) was a mycologist who specialized on the taxonomy and morphology of the heterobasidiomycetes (“jelly fungi”).^[1]

During his 50 years as professor at the University of British Columbia,^[2] he wrote over 80 scientific publications as well as several books. He was awarded the title of Professor Emeritus in 1989.^[2] In 1990 the Canadian Botanical Association awarded him the George Lawson Medal.^[3] Bandoni died on May 18, 2009, in Vancouver, British Columbia, after suffering a stroke.^[4]

Robert "Bob" Joseph Bandoni was born November 9, 1926, in Weeks, Nevada, to Giuseppe and Albina Bandoni.^[1] He went to high school in Hawthorne, Nevada, and received a Bachelor of Science from the University of Nevada in 1953.^[1] He then studied under George Willard Martin at the University of Iowa and received his Ph.D. in 1957.^[1] The title of his thesis was: "Taxonomic studies of the genus Tremella (Tremellaceae).^[1] That same year, he received the Gertrude S. Burlingham Fellowship at the New York Botanical Garden and became assistant professor of Botany at the University of Wichita.^[1] In 1958 Bandoni joined the Botany faculty at the University of British Columbia (UBC). He helped found the Vancouver Mycological Society in the 1970s. He was awarded the status of professor emeritus in 1989.^[1] Bandoni died on May 18, 2009 from a stroke.^[1]

Bandoni mainly studied the heterobasidiomycetes, commonly known as the "Jelly Fungi". His early publications were of a classical taxonomical nature, writing descriptions of the macro- and micro-morphology via the light microscope.^[2] In the early 1970s Bandoni started studying aquatic fungi that occur in terrestrial environments.^[2] He published a paper in the journal Science that explained how spores can travel upwards on a monolayer of water on a leaf surface.^[5] In the 1980s Bandoni collaborated with Franz Oberwinkler and colleagues at the University of Tübingen to produce over 20 papers on the Jelly Fungi and allies. They described new species, genera, families and orders. They used TEM and SEM micrographs to investigate the significance of septal pore structures, began revising the classical phylogenetic classification and to demonstrate parasitism between Jelly Fungi and other fungi.^[2] Bandoni collaborated with mycologists in Japan and other Asian countries. He was research fellow in 1983 at the University of Tsukuba and spent a sabbatical year at the University of Osaka.^[1] He wrote two field guides to Thailand mushrooms.^[1] Bandoni contributed to multiple publications on taxonomy in the Jelly Fungi up until his death.

In addition to scientific publications, Bandoni also contributed to several influential books. He contributed to Plant diversity: An evolutionary approach; a book written by the UBC Botany Faculty that "put the Botany Department onto the North American textbook bestseller list for almost a decade".^[1] He also contributed to the 570 page textbook Nonvascular plants: An evolutionary survey. In 1964 he co-authored with Adam Szczawinski a field guide titled Guide to common mushrooms of British Columbia.

• Gertrude S. Burlingham Fellowship^[1]
• George Lawson Medal^[3]
• Mycological Society of Japan
• Mycological Society of America

• Bandonia
• Bandoniozyma^[6]

• List of mycologists