I studied botany, zoology, chemistry, plant physiology, genetics and molecular biology at the departments of Biology and Biochemistry and Food Chemistry at the University of Turku 1979- 1990. I obtained my Bachelor of Science (Botany) in 1982, Master of Science (Botany) in 1985, Highest degree in Biochemistry (mol. biol.) for Msc in 1985, Licentiate in Philosophy (Plant Physiology) in 1987, Cum laude approbatur in Genetics in 1989, and PhD in 1990 in Plant Physiology.

I have been working at the University of Turku since 1985, as a course assistant, PhD student,  postdoc, researcher and project coordinator in different projects. Since 1997, I have been a title of docent/Adjunct Professor in Mycology in Plant Physiology and Molecular Plant Biology. I have also worked at the University of Helsinki as a postdoc in 1991-1992 and 1994. Since 2002 I have been a title of docent/Adjunct Professor in Mycology also at the University of Helsinki. In 1984 I worked as a MSc Student at the University of Lund and in 1987 as a PhD student at the University of Groningen. I have also made researcher visits to Komarov Botanical Institute, All-Russian Plant Protection Institute and Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute in St. Petersburg, to several Nordic laboratories and to the United States department of Agriculture in Peoria during our NordForsk project.

I have visited: Department of Plant Physiology at the University of Lund in Sweden for three months in 1984,Komarov Botanical institute for one month in Leningrad in Soviet Union in 1987 and two weeks in 1997, Department of Plant Biology for six months at the University of Groningen in Haren in the Netherlands in 1987, Mushroom expedition of one week to Perm Region near Ural mountains with Russian mycologists in 1993,  Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute in Gatchina in Russia for two months in 1994-1995, two weeks in 2000 and one week in 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2001, Scottish Crop Research Institute, Dundee, Scotland for one week in 1998, All-Russian Plant Protection Institute in St. Petersburg for one to two weeks in 1999-2019 and in 2022, University of Western Australia, Perth, for one week in 2000, Mycology Group BioCentrum – Technical University of Denmark two weeks in 2003 and one week in 2004, Norwegian Plant Protection Institute in Ås Norway one week in 2004 and 2005, United States, Department of Agriculture, Peoria, USA, March 9-April 9, 2007, United States, Kansas State University, University of Minnesota and Department of Agriculture, Peoria, March 9-20, 2009, Erasmus visit to the University of Sassari in Italy on October 11-16,, 2009,Invited guest at Mahatma Gandhi Institute and the University of Hyderabad in Hyderabad India for one week on February 2-9, 2011, Oscar project meetings in Viterbo Italy on June 3-5, 2013, Marrakech Morocco March 24-28, 2014, Sonsveien Norway, June 29-July 2, 2015 and Witzenahausen German on February 15-18, 2016.  

We are developing and using molecular detection and
quantification methods for different fungal species including Fusarium and Aspergillus species and fungi used in biological control. The
molecular data is also used for taxonomical and phylogenetic investigations and
to determine, which mycotoxins in plants are correlated with the DNA levels of different
plant pathogenic fungi.