Conservation Mycology & Fungal Friendsgiving Potluck
Conservation Mycology & Fungal Friendsgiving Potluck
Join us in celebrating fungal conservation and fungal friends this month!
Dear Fellow Myconauts,
Next up in the Mycoverse…
November 23rd – Fungal Friendsgiving Potluck
November 27th – Conservation of Abundance: How Fungi Can Contribute to Rethinking Conservation
Come December we will start reading and discussing Let’s Become Fungal! Mycelium Teachings and the Arts – so order now!
More spore reports from the mycophilic (fungus-loving) land of Italy – an impressive mushroom altar in a small town near the trailhead on our journey with the Mario mushroom mountain. All fresh mushrooms appeared to be collected in the past day or so!
Fungal Friendsgiving Potluck
Thursday, November 23rd, 2pm @ Myconaut Robyn’s House, Glendale, CA – Please RSVP
Let us celebrate another holiday together, this time in gratitude for our human and more-than-human friends! We are so grateful for the community we have cultivated here in Los Angeles over the past few years. We shall feast a fantastic fungal feast with a potluck gathering in Robyn's backyard in Glendale! Robyn will be making us all a turkey. (Thank you Robyn for hosting and making a fun flyer – also happy birthday!)
To contribute to the potluck, when you RSVP let us know what you plan on bringing: a main vegeterian dish (since there will be turkey), snacks, salad, drinks, and/or desserts.
While mushroom dishes are encouraged and welcome, it is not required – we are not exclusive fungivores! We will send out an email shortly before the event with the address and to let folks know how many people we are expecting so we can prepare portions accordingly.
How Fungi Can Contribute to Rethinking Conservation
Monday, November 27th, 7pm @ Arlington Garden, Pasadena, CA – Free by donation
Conservation has been plagued by scarcity mindsets and challenges with focusing on individuals, such as species extinction. We will discuss how the exciting new research of fungi is leading us to understand life in different terms such as abundance, collectivity, and relational ecology. And how fungi are even helping cultivate celebration, curiosity, and joy in scientific disciplines due to their seemingly magical natures.
We will also discuss the Mycoverse's founder Aaron Tupac's work with mycological conservation as a fungal collector for the CA Fungal Diversity Survey Project and the chair of the North American Mycological Association's Conservation and Stewardship Committee.
Before the discussion, we invite you to:
Read Conservation of Abundance: How Fungi Can Contribute to Rethinking Conservation (2023) – 9 pages
Recognition of the discipline of conservation mycology (2018) – 4 pages
NatGeo: Fungi are key to our Survival. Are we doing enough to protect them? (2021) – 7 pages
Myconaut Mushroom Links
A new illustrated version of Entangled Life was released, it’s incredible
Another new book alert (from one of the conservation authors we will be discussing this month) Meetings with Remarkable Mushrooms: Forays with Fungi across Hemispheres
Looking sporeward,
Aaron