Who Speaks for the Fungi Workshop
Learn how to participate in mycological community science & conservation!
Dear Fellow Myconauts,
The fungi walks have been incredible so far this mushroom season! I’ll share more photos once I return to LA and announce more walks. Currently at SOMA Camp (Sonoma County), one of the largest mycological society gatherings in North America.
Schizophyllum commune – our favorite non-binary icon with 23,000+ matings types/sexes.
I learned the following trick from fellow myconaut Janneke who had just visited a *mycological conservation* reserve in the Netherlands where they use these telescoping inspection mirrors to look at and identify mushrooms without picking them — in alignment with their mission to conserve mushrooms.
Great for popular trails to prevent over-harvesting like where I teach.
Seems like a more mindful and respectful way to get to know mushrooms with a low-tech solution. Adds a little humor and play too, seeing the world from a mushroom’s point of view with the mirror looking back at you.
Aaron Tupac Workshop – Who Speaks for the Fungi?
Monday, January 22nd, 7pm @ Arlington Garden, Pasadena, CA
Sponsored by Arlington Garden
An exploration into the mushrooming young field of conservation mycology
and how-to community science.
As the first chair of the newly formed Conservation & Stewardship Committee at the North American Mycological Association, the parent organization of Mycological organizations around the continent, Aaron will share what they have learned about the current state of fungal conservation and the many ways you can get involved. Aaron will also share about their firsthand experience working with the Fungal Diversity Survey (FUNDIS) on the CA FUNDIS Project, the first-ever taxpayer mycological conservation project of its kind to map the diversity of macrofungi in California.
Aaron will focus on how you can get involved too! They will present an introduction to the community science app iNaturalist and how you can contribute to Mycoverse's community science project, the SoCal Funga Project.
The workshop portion will guide attendees through the steps of making scientific observations of mushrooms.
Lastly, we will discuss mushroom codes of conduct – discussing popular questions such as:
Can I pick a mushroom? Any mushroom? All mushrooms?
What effect will it have on their population?
How can I reduce my impact when looking for mushrooms?
How can I give back to mushrooms & fungi?
Before this discussion, we invite you to:
🍄 Set up an iNaturalist account.
🍄 Read what is Conservation Mycology?
🍄 Check out the following organizations dedicated to conservation mycology:
IUCN & The Global Fungi Red List (less than 1,000 in North America)
🍄 Check out the existing mushroom code of conduct from Europe:
What Are Fungi Teaching Us About Multispecies Models of Collaboration?
Monday, February 12th, 7pm @ Arlington Garden, Pasadena, CA – Free
Sponsored by Arlington Garden
Join us for our final discussion of Let's Become Fungal! The book can be read in any order, non-linearly, so please join us for any and/or all of these discussions.
Before this discussion, we invite you to:
Read the following chapters of Let's Become Fungal
(8) What Are Fungi Teaching Us About Models of Multispecies Collaboration?
(9) How to Move Through Different Notions of Time?
(10) How to Deal with Insecurity?
(11) How Can Language Help Guide Us Into the Fungal Paradigm?
(12) How to Implement These Teachings Into Our Lives?
Myconautics & Links
The Sheldrake family announced their next workshop on Cortes Island next summer. I can highly recommend it! It was a life-changing experience for me this past summer.
Looking sporeward,
Aaron