James Martin Trappe (born 1931) is a mycologist and expert in the field of North American truffle species.
As early as his undergraduate tenure he was doing work on the subject, and his PhD thesis was to monograph Cenococcum graniforme, one of the most ubiquitous and promiscuous mycorrhizal symbiotes on the planet.
When he arrived at Corvallis, one of the most important collections of hypogeous fungi in North America was in care of the retiring Professor Helen Margaret Gilkey who bequeathed it to Trappe, a windfall which aided his future research immensely.
During his tenure at Corvallis he participated in and eventually became a trustee of the North American Truffling Society which has worked to further collaboration among hobbyists and researchers on in the field of hypogeous fungi, travelled to Torino to study truffle specimens, hosted visiting scholars from over 20 countries and mentored many prominent mycologists in their own right.
Since 1999 he has been sojourning to Australia for 4–5 months a year to work on truffle taxonomy with the Australian Government,[7] resulting in many papers.