Next Meeting: November 21 2019
Speaker: Thea Chesney
Topic: Mushrooming in the Sierra Nevada (and Beyond)
From snowbanks in early spring to meadows at the peak of summer to the foothills in fall and winter, California's mountains hold many distinct habitats, and wonderful mushroom diversity throughout the seasons. This talk will introduce some of the specialized habitats and the curious mushrooms that call them home. Thea will also include a basic introduction to mushroom ecology, discuss the limits of our knowledge of montane fungi, and encourage folks to help with citizen science efforts to document what's out there.
Thea Chesney is a lifelong Sierra Nevada foothill resident and naturalist. Her childhood interest in local mushrooms, wildlife, and flora has transformed into an unending devotion to the natural world. She earned her BS in forestry from UC Berkeley while pursuing her passion for fungal taxonomy in the Berkeley mycology labs, and since then has spent her time exploring the California mountains and the organisms that call them home. She currently works for the Forest Service as a botanist on a long term, state-wide meadow monitoring project. She continues to be particularly fascinated by the plants and fungi of the Sierra Nevada and other mountains of California, and is currently working on a field guide to mushrooms of these understudied regions.
Past speakers
Recent speakers at our monthly SOMA meetings.
2019
- Lukas Martinelli Fungal Partnerships: The Microbial Roots of Life.
- J.R. Blair Mycorrizae.
- Dr. Roo Vandegrift Biodiversity.
- Brian Claus Anicola.
- A panel of SOMA mushroom maestros How to best look for mushrooms.
2018
- Taylor Lockwood Biolumiscence.
- Fran Angerer An overview discussion on Truffles - History, Farming, Science and Harvesting.
- Kingman Bond-Graham Hunting By Habitat. Recognizing Opportunities For Mushroom Foraging In California.
- Juniper Harrower Symbiosis under climate change: Investigating Joshua trees and their mycorrhizal fungi.
- Rick Kerrigan Introducing Agaricus.
- Richard Tehan Evolution of secondary metabolism in Tolypocladium and hypocrealean fungi.
- Patrick Hamilton Tales of mushrooming from Costa Rica to Alaska plus a few fine dishes to taste.
2017
- David Campbell Truffles and Mushrooms of Northern Italy plus .
- Paige Mandelare A Tale of Two Fungi: Coculturing of Mediterranean Marine Endophytes.
- Anna Bazzicalupo Benjamin Woo's Russula Herbarium and his contribution to science.
- Dan Thomas The ancient and new landscape: how scientists are re-learning to see a world connected by fungi.
- Kathleen Harrison Psilocybin Mushrooms in Mazatec Mexico: Glimpse an Indigenous Worldview.
- Alan Rockefeller
- Heather Slinn
2016
- Brian A. Perry Fungal diversity in Hawaii
- Noah Siegel Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast
- Christian Schwarz MycoMysteries: A guide to what we don't know
- Jackie Shay A Hunt for Marasmius
- Catherine Adams Amanita phalloides
- Natalie Hambalek
- Darvin Deshazer and George Riner Wild Mushroom Identification
2015
- Dorothy Beebee The History and Legacy of Mushroom Dyes
- Justin Reyes A look at Gourmet Mushrooms Inc/Mycopia Mushrooms
- Joshua Harrison The Fungi Within: the Ecological Importance of Symbiotic Fungi
- Chris Grace
- Sydney Glassman Ectomycorrhizal Fungal Spore Bank Recovery After a Severe Forest Fire: Some Like it Hot
- Michael Beug Love of Western Ascomycetes
- Alan Rockefeller Mushrooms of Mexico
- Darvin DeShazer Polypores -- The Forgotten Family
2014
- Dr. Denis Desjardin
- Patrick Hamilton How to be a really good mushroom hunter
- Sephanie Jarvis Trufflere, Truffle Cultivation in Modern Times
- Noah Siegel Let It Bleed: The Lactarius of California
- Arthur Charles Grupe II Sarcodon in the Neotropics: Four new species and the immerging circum-Caribbean distribution.
- Ben Waitman Nitrogen pollution in Forests: How do ectomycorrhizal fungi factor in?
- Denis R. Benjamin Mushroom ‘Poisoning’ Not Due To Toxins
- Sydney Glassman
2013
- Roo Vandegrift Diversity and dispersal of tropical forest Xylariaceae
- Meredith Sabini The Art of Collecting: Tales and Tips from 30 Years on the Mountain
- Christian Schwarz, Amateurs at the Helm -- The unique role of citizen scientists in assembling the North American Mycoflora Project
- Patrick Hamilton, The Mycochef, Morels and More
- Alija Bajro Mujic Have Rake, Will Travel: Following the Ancestral Migration of Douglas Fir and it False-Truffle Associates
- Noah Siegel Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast
- Walt Sturgeon Just For the Smell of It: Mushroom Common Scents: a non-technical look at wild mushrooms from an olfactory perspective.
- Todd Osmundson Of species, spores, and the spiral ladder: How DNA has shaped our understanding of fungal diversity, distribution, phylogeny and ecology.
- Alija Bajro Muji (SOMA Scholarship winner) Have Rake, Will Travel: Following the Ancestral Migration of Douglas Fir and it False-Truffle Associates.
2012
- Rytas Vilgalys
- Terry Henkel
- Todd Osmundson
- Alan Rockefeller Mushrooms of Mexico
2011
- Jenny Talbot Dishing the dirt on decomposition: how soil fungi shape the ecosystem carbon cycle
- Daniel Winkler Mushroaming
- David Pilz Wild Mushroom Management in Spain: What might be applicable here?
- Dr. Matt Trappe Shaking the Fungal Tree of Life
- Leon Shernoff Boletes Come of Age
- Nhu Nguyen Mycological symbioses: tales of fungi that live with insects, bacteria, and plants
- Bob Cummings Red Amanitas, Black Trumpets, & White Porcini Mushroom Hunting in Santa Barbara
- Langdon Cook From Woods to Plate: Wild Mushroom Cookery
- Connie Green and Patrick Hamilton: A Show and Tell
- Else Vellinga: The naming of mushrooms -- insights into the work of a mushroom taxonomist
2010
- David Arora: The Wheel of Fungi: Chapter 8
- Valerie Wong: Breaking Down Symbiosis: Searching for mechanisms of mycoheterotroph parasitism
- Darvin DeShazer: California Edibles
- Peter Werner: Psilocybe and allies of California, as well as other psilocybin mushrooms of the state
- Mia Maltz: Mycorenewal and Biodiversity: Investigating the effect of fungal amendments for increasing plant establishment in contaminated soil
- Jennifer Kerekes: A look at the diversity and ecology of saprotrophic fungal communities
2009
- William Rubel, with David Arora: The History of Amanita muscaria as an Edible Mushroom And a Look at Cultural Bias in Field Guides
- DVD by Taylor Lockwood, The Good, the Bad, and the Deadly: a special showing of the latest DVD by Taylor Lockwood.
- David Campbell, Rocky Monsoon Mushrooms: A peek at summer fungi of southwestern Colorado
- Nicole Hynson, When fungi host plants: unraveling the role of mycorrhizal specificity in myco-heterotrophic plants
- Elio Schaecter, Mushrooms Through the Ages
- Maggie Rodgers, Hooked on Mushroomers?
- Kathryn Harper, Toxic and Hallucinogenic Mushroom Identification via a DNA-based Macroarray
- Gary Lincoff, Appearance and Reality: Knowing what’s what and why in the fungi
2008
- Glenn Shepard, Jr, Attitudes toward and Uses of Mushrooms in Traditional Cultures: An overview
- Dimitar Bochantev, Sierra Nevada—Fungal Diversity along the roads less travelled
- David Rust, A mushroomer's Guide to Sudden Oak Death
- Chris Kjeldson, Why Fungi: From Elvis the King to Environmental Engineers
- David Campbell, Fungimental Mycophagy: a forest-to-table discussion about the basics and beyond of eating wild mushrooms
- Mia Maltz, Amazon Mycorenewal Project
- Dorothy Beebee, Fiber and Fungi—the First Forty Years
- Dr. Tom Volk, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
2007
- Dr. Sveta Yamin-Pasternak, PhD, Polar Regions Research, National Science Foundation: "From Tomorrow to Yesterday with a Myco-Scope Lens: Mushroom Tales from Russia and Alaska"
- Taylor Lockwood, New Book: Chasing the Rain: My Treasure Hunt for the World's Most Beautiful Mushrooms
- Dr. Roberto Garibay Orijel, Ph.D., UC Berkeley: "Men and Fungi, a travel through time and civilizations."
- Dr. Terry Henkel, Ph.D., Humboldt State Univeristy: "Going Fungal in the Jungle."
- Darvin DeShazer, Sonoma County Mycological Association.
- Tara Fulgenzi, Humboldt State University:"Boletaceae of Guyana."
- S. Coleman McCleneghan, Ph.D., "Fungal Stories from the Great Smoky Mountain ATBI: Documenting Friends and Foes."
- Gary Lincoff, New York Botanical Garden.
2006
- Dr. Ralph Metzner, Ph.D. Ayahuasca and the psilocybe mushrooms and how they relate to psychotherapy, shamanic journey practices and alchemical divination.
- Bob Engel of Gourmet Mushroom.
- Charmoon Richardson, Wild About Mushrooms Co. "Wild Culinary Mushrooms of Northern California."
- Judy Roger, North American Mycological Association. "The Oregon Chanterelle Study—20 years and Counting…"
- Dr. Beug, Ph.D., North American Mycological Association. "Reflections on Mushroom Poisonings."
- Denise Gregory, San Francisco State University. "Endophytic Fungi."
- Debbie Viess (AKA Amanitarita). "Amanitas of California."
- Leon Shernoff, Illinois Mycological Association and editor of Mushroom, the Journal of Wild Mushrooming. "How do you know when a mushroom is strange?"
2005
- Dr. Rytas Vilgalys, Ph.D., Duke University. "The secret lives of mushrooms."
- Dr. Matteo Garbelotto, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley. "The Tanoak Mycorrhiza Community: Predicting the Effects of P. ramorum."
- Dr. Largent, Ph.D., Humboldt State University, emeritus. "The Fantastic Features of Fungi."
- Andy Wilson, Clark University. "Gymnopus."
- Dr. Dennis Desjardin, Ph.D., San Francisco State University, Mycological Society of San Francisco. "Why I Am A Mycologist."
- Dr. Fred Stevens, Ph.D. "Agaricus of California."
- Carla Mueller. "Enchanted Swedish Mushrooms."
- Dr. Tom Volk, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. "Where Have All The Hydnums Gone?"
2004
ÿ2003
- Dr. Jim Trappe, Ph.D.. "Truffles In Australia…And Why Do We Care?"
- Lawrence Glacy,"Panda Nature Reserves in China and their Fungal Ecology."
- Matthew Keile, University of Chicago. "Coprinoid Fungi of Hawaii."
- Dr. Lisa Grubisha, Ph.D.. "Channel Islands: Biogeography of Rhizopogon."
- Janice Alexander, University of California Cooperative Extension and California Oak Mortality Task Force. "Oak Death: Phytophthora ramorum in California."
- Dr. Steve Trudell, Ph.D., University of Washington. "Mycorrhizal Fungi: Foundation of Our Forests."
- Dr. Michael Kuo, Ph.D., Eastern Illinois University. "Everything we Know About Morels."
- Dr. Rod Tulloss, Ph.D..