After taking a general mycology course offered by J. W. Hotson in the botany department, he developed an interest in fungi.
His transfer was encouraged by Professor T. C. Frye, who viewed Stuntz as a potential replacement of Dr. Hotson, whose health was becoming problematic.
The earliest record of Stuntz's research activities can be traced back to March 30, 1934, when he was a junior in college.
One of his important publications was a book named How to identify mushrooms to Genus IV: keys to families and Genera, published in 1977.
(Stuntz 1977) During his last several years, he developed an interest in the resupinate, nonporoid Aphyllophorales and enrolled several students working on those.
Besides his personal interest and collections, he also developed an excellent fungal herbarium at the University of Washington, in which most of the materials were identified to genus and species.
He could efficiently deliver the scientific information to a wide variety of people: from the mycological researchers to the amateurs.
(Information from winners of UW's distinguished teaching awards) For years, Stuntz was a 'public servant.'
Not only did he help with the identification of fungi, but he also spent considerable amount of time giving lectures to amateur mycologists.
(Information from website of Puget Sound Mycological Society) Stuntz had interest not only in science, but also in arts.
However, Stuntz's father did not think the art is a practical field, so the lack of encouragement from his family may have directly lead him to give up his musical interest.