September 8th 2026 General Meeting
Floral Hall, Van Dusen Gardens (5251 Oak St.)
Doors at 7pm, Talk at 7:30pm
Fungi: A World of Wonder Beneath Your Feet
Paul Kroeger
Paul Kroeger is a founding member of the Vancouver Mycological Society and has lived in Vancouver for most of his life. He became a citizen scientist in the 1970’s when he started wanting to learn more about fungi. He travels across the province collecting and identifying mushrooms as well as giving engaging and entertaining talks. He knows so much now that the BC Center for Disease Control calls him up to help with reported poisonings. He has written a book on mushrooms of Haida Gwaii and contributed to many published articles on fungi. He is a very passionate, adventurous and curious man. He even has a mushroom named after him! Come join us as we learn about the kingdom of fungi in our own neighbourhood.
Introducing MycoMap BC: A DNA Sequencing Project
We're excited to announce MycoMap BC, a project aimed at documenting fungal and slime mould biodiversity in British Columbia. Through a partnership with Mycota Lab, free, year-round DNA sequencing for mushroom and slime mould collections is available to anyone in BC. Your contributions will help us better understand the unique biodiversity of our province.
How to Participate
We invite mushroom enthusiasts, backyard collectors, and mycologists to help us collect thousands of specimens from all regions of BC. Here’s what you'll need to get started:
- A collection box
- An iNaturalist account and a camera or phone
- A food dehydrator
Once your collections are dried, you’ll ship them to our Victoria, BC collection point. We are currently accepting all collections made in 2025.
For detailed protocols, FAQs, and shipping instructions, please visit
mycota.com/the-mycomap-bc-network/. You can also find a link to our iNaturalist project and a form to receive the mailing address for your specimens.
Launch Event
Join us for a virtual launch event and celebration on September 16th at 7 PM via Zoom. The event will feature guest speakers including Stephen Russell of Mycota Lab and Andy Mackinnon and Kem Luther, authors of Mushrooms of BC. They will discuss the importance of DNA sequencing, followed by an overview of the collection protocol. There will also be a Q&A session. Register for the event here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/l0L8ztPTQjGI4cvxq17-fA
We will also be hosting an online mycoblitz from September 17th-24th in hopes of hitting our first 1000 specimens! Join our iNaturalist project (linked on website below), and start making collections to join our leaderboard.
Project Support & Contact
This project is supported by the South Vancouver Island Mycological Society, the BC Biodiversity Program, the Metchosin Foundation, Whistler Naturalists, SERAL (Society for Education, Research and Arts on the Land), and the Vancouver Mycological Society.
For any questions or to offer support, please contact project coordinators Elora Adamson (elora.adamson@svims.club) or Ann McCall (ann.mccall@svims.club).
Happy collecting!
We are pleased to officially announce the VMS Discord Server – an additional community space for you to hang out with and learn from your fellow mushroom enthusiasts.
Logged in VMS members can view vanmyco.org/discord and join the server
New Blog Posts: Detailed histories and more!
Stuck inside? We've got lots of new articles for you to read. Enjoy!
A History of Mushroom Cultivation in BC - by Paul Kroeger
Four Decades of Vancouver Mycological Society: How mushrooming in BC has changed - by Paul Kroeger
Health and safety issues concerning commercial marketing of Edible Wild Mushrooms in British Columbia - by Paul Kroeger
BC’s Truffle Industry: The Next Frontier is Underground - by Rosi Hunter
Get on our Instagram feed
Spotted a cool mushroom? Share it with the club (and the world) by using the hashtag #vanmyco. Your pictures will automatically appear in the feed below.
Please note: this is not an identification service, but a way for club members to easily share their unique vision of fungi.