Our speaker, Christin Swearingen, is a mycologist volunteering for the Fungal Diversity Survey. She has degrees from Oberlin College (B.A.) and the University of Alaska Fairbanks (M.S.), and mentorship from Dr. Gary Laursen (author of Alaska's Mushrooms). She is currently living in Fairbanks, working for the Interior Alaska Land Trust to protect natural habitat for all wildlife, including mushrooms. The West Coast Rare 10 Fungi project was launched in fall 2020 to find and document ten species of rare, threatened, or declining fungi. Scientists and conservationists need more data on these fungi in order to better understand and protect them and their habitats.

Local dairy-free cheese artisan, Karen McAthy (of Blue Heron Cheese Co.) will present on how fungi are a part of their process. This meeting will be held at VanDusen Floral Hall on Tuesday April 12 at 7:30pm. Masks are strongly encouraged.   Note: This will be a BLENDED MEETING, meaning that we will be live-streaming from VanDusen. This is our first attempt at this process, but we hope that the audio and video will be of acceptable quality, wi-fi permitting. If you prefer to attend via Zoom, please log-in and use the meeting link here: https://www.vanmyco.org/zoom-webinar-access/

VMS member Michael J. Hathaway draws from his recently published book What a Mushroom Lives For, the second book in an academic trilogy that began with Anna L. Tsing’s The Mushroom at the End of the World. Moving from fungi as an enigmatic kingdom that transformed the ancient Earth to the realm of the fascinating matsutake mushroom on the Tibetan Plateau, Hathaway reveals the ways these mushrooms are creating their own multispecies encounters, with and without humans. This book challenges a legacy of human exceptionalism and human supremacy that is dominant in Western thinking and offers ways to notice the creative liveliness of all organisms, from mammals to mushrooms. Members: Log-in to attend online via Zoom, or join us in person at VanDusen Floral Hall Tuesday May 10 @ 7:30 PM

Upcoming meeting: September 13 Members Night! Year after year, we are amazed to learn of the different experiences and relationships our members have with fungi. Returning after a four-year hiatus, Members Night is when 3-4 VMS members give short, 10-15 minute presentations showcasing a fungal topic of their choosing (instead of committing to a full length presentation). Join us in person at VanDusen Floral hall @ 7PM, or on Zoom.

We are honored to have Dr. Mary Berbee of the Berbee Lab join us for our next meeting on October 11th. Schedule of events: 7 pm: Doors and Mushroom Mingling Come at 7 pm to secure a good seat and chat about mushrooms with our experts who will identify specimens. Be sure to check out what fungal finds are on the table (and bring your own!) 7:30 - 9:30: Guest Talk Our guest speaker, Dr. Mary Berbee will talk about Mushrooms up! UBC's newest collaboration with the Beaty Biodiversity Museum, and BC fungal research. This would be a hybrid meeting, meaning those who cannot attend in person can join us live through Zoom and there will be a Zoom recording in our members' archive:

Of Maize and Men: How do fungal pathogens such as Ustilago maydis and Cryptococcus neoformans cause disease? Kabir Bhalla (he/him) is a graduate student in the Kronstad Lab at UBC. He is particularly interested in polyphosphate, a phosphorus biopolymer, and how it contributes to disease in the pathogenic basidiomycete yeast, Cryptococcus neoformans. 7 pm: Doors and Mushroom Mingling Come at 7 pm to secure a good seat and chat about mushrooms with our experts who will identify specimens. Be sure to check out what fungal finds are on the table (and bring your own!) 7:30 - 9:30: Guest Talk Bhalla will be presenting a broad overview of C. neoformans and U. maydis, their disease mechanisms, and some recent work from the Kronstad Lab at the University of British Columbia. Join us in person at VanDusen Gardens (Floral Hall). Members may attend the presentation via Zoom. This would be a hybrid meeting, meaning those who cannot attend in person can join us live through Zoom and there will be a Zoom recording in our members' archive.

Paul Kroeger has studied mushrooms for over thirty-five years and is a founding member of the Vancouver Mycological Society. He has been involved in many projects and studies about diverse aspects of mushrooms, gaining knowledge about fungal ecology, biochemistry of toxic, hallucinogenic, medicinal, and edible mushrooms. Years of experience have created unique insights and understanding of fungal life-ways and interactions in temperate ecosystems. Kroeger has many times served as President of the VMS and co-authored ‘The Outer Spores: Mushrooms of Haida Gwaii’ in 2012. He has worked at the University of British Columbia researching the biochemistry of medicinal mushrooms and is a major contributor to the mycological herbarium collections in UBC’s Beaty Biodiversity Museum. Paul is an entertaining, knowledgeable speaker who gives illustrated talks throughout the Pacific Northwest on subjects such as general mycology, fungal biology, poisonous mushrooms, magic mushrooms, biology, and the mycology of hot springs. “Darwin’s Elves”: Poisonous mushrooms and mushroom poisonings An introduction to poisonous mushrooms and their effects is important for all those who are interested in mushrooms as a hobby. Major toxin types and their effects are described, and a few case studies show how suspect fungi are identified. This presentation presents practical general guidelines for safely […]