A high school student in Texas working on a back yard science project made a surprising discovery in the spring of 2002. Intending to detect the presence of fungal spores and bacteria in globe-trotting dust, Sarah Mims instead discovered that fungal spores had hitched a ride across the Gulf of Mexico with smoke from fires in Central America. This young, amateur scientist's discovery could change the prevailing wisdom on the benefits of burning diseased crops or timber.