Samantha C. Karunarathna, is a Professor at the Center for Yunnan Plateau Biological Resources Protection and Utilization, Qujing Normal University, Qujing City, Yunnan Province, P.R. China. Prof. Karunarathna completed his B.Sc. special degree in Botany at the Faculty of Science, the University of Peradeniya in 2006. After completing his bachelor’s degree, he served as a lecturer at the Faculty of Applied Sciences, the Rajarata University of Sri Lanka from 2007-2009. He joined Mae Fah Luang University, Thailand as a Ph.D. student in 2010 and completed his degree in 2016. To date, Prof. Karunarathna has published approximately 200 SCI publications with an H-index of 35 and 6600 citations and is a co-author of three books. His research interests are taxonomy, phylogeny, and domestication of mushrooms.