Fungi foraging, ID, safety, field tips, and conservation
Hosted by Nick Wallis & EGA
Registration for the Microdose Webcasts are free but donations are encouraged to support EGA's important work (booking fees apply).
Episode Four - Fungi foraging, identification, safety, field tips, and conservation
Synopsis:
Autumn in southeast Australia marks the beginning of fungi season; chilly mornings, thick layers of dew, and the appearance of a variety of mushrooms and toadstools.
With a change in perspective toward psychoactive fungi, there are now more people than ever out foraging for active mushrooms. With this comes the risks of picking poisonous lookalikes, the potential ecological damage caused by foragers who are perhaps a little over-eager, and what this may cause for long term conservation. There is also the legal risk given the punishments if someone is caught being in possession of said fungi. The panel will also cover some basic ID tips for the 'active' species sound across Australia.
This mycological panel will feature Australian mycologists and Myco enthusiasts, Caine Barlow, Beau Meister, Ema Corro, Symon Beck & Darklight, who will discuss issues of safety, ecology, and conservation. The Panel will be facilitated by Jess Saunders.
The EGA team have created this very special reference guide for Psilocybe subaeruginosa for the community, Which will be discussed and referred to over the webcast.
Bio - Caine
Caine Barlow is a fungi educator who has been cultivating and studying fungi for 14 years. In 2019 he completed a Master's degree where his research project was to predict a preliminary conservation status for many Australian fungi.
As a fungi educator, he is passionate about encouraging people to see fungi in a new light by demonstrating how easy they are to grow in kitchen and garden environments. He likes to inspire a sense of creativity in the cloning and propagation of mycelium, experimentation with different substrates, and how to hack together equipment.
Through exploring the forests of Far South Tasmania, Caine's interest in fungi evolved from foraging to learning how to culture native species for conservation, and on to cultivating a variety of culinary and medicinal species. Then to further studies into mycorrhizal fungi, mycoremediation, and mycorestoration.
When not growing fungi, Caine volunteers his time with Entheogenesis Australis, MYCOmmunity Applied Mycology, and the Australian Psychedelic Society. He writes for DoubleBlind and is also a regular contributor, “trusted identifier” and administrator on a variety of fungi oriented website forums and facebook groups.
Caine has an Instagram account "Guerrilla Mycology” where he blogs about his cultivation techniques and the enthnomycology of fungi he finds in the field.
Contact - Instagram - guerrillamycology
Bio - Beau
Beau Meister (karode13) is a Horticulturist and Mycologist.
After studying Horticulture in New Zealand, Beau took an interest in the unusual fungi that grew in the forests there. So little was known about them and this sparked an interest in fungal taxonomy that has lasted for over 20 years. When not out in the field he can be found in his garden tending to a range of Ethnobotanical plants and flowers.
Beau has been a moderator of the Mushroom Hunting and Identification and the Ethnobotanical Garden forums on Shroomery.org for over a decade. As well as an admin for the Victorian Fungi group, PMANZ and Victorian Mycophagy group on Facebook.
Contact - Email - karode13@hotmail.com
Bio - Ema
Ema Corro is a mycologist who believes that the best way to protect the environment is to involve the community in all aspects of science and conservation.
Ema loves everything about fungi and is always amazed by their ability to increase people’s sense of connection with the natural world. She is coordinator of MYCOmmunity Applied Mycology which is an organisation that aims to raise awareness of the importance of fungi in health, sustainability and the environment, as well as providing scientific training and resources to the community. She also coordinates the Wild Fungi DNA project which is developing environmental DNA techniques that citizen scientists can use to search for rare and endangered fungi. She is also researching using waste to produce sustainable mycelium-based construction materials.
Contact - Email - mycommunity@myco.org.au
Bio - Symon Beck
Symon Beck is a mycoenthusiast with over ten years of experience foraging and eating many different species of fungi on Australia’s East Coast. Symon enjoys targeting new species and seeking out new locations for hunting. He has a particular interest in Psilocybe species and other psychoactive species, and helps run the PMANZ group on Facebook. He has previously guided educational groups in the field, teaching others the basics of fungus identification and plans to continue this in the future. His academic background is in medicine and psychiatry.
Contact - Facebook - Symon Beck
Bio - Darklight
Darklight has been working with aseptic medicinal and endangered plant species propagation for over 20 years. Moving into fungal propagation was a natural progression ( or unfortunate side-effect, you choose. Right now, Darklight is working on long-term archiving of local NNSW fungal species for future remediation and revegetation work- the culture library consists of a fair range of local macrofungi whose ultimate purposes have yet to be revealed to us. But they're here for a reason, and so are we.
What fascinates Darklight is the progression of fungal lab technology towards being more accessible to citizen scientists. Kitchen mycology is easy, safe and productive these days. The teks keep getting better and the outputs more diverse and rewarding.
Contact - Email - darklight@shaman-australis.com
Bio - Jess Saunders
Jess is a botanical illustrator and tattooer living in Northern Rivers NSW/ Bundjalung country.
A love of the natural world, gardening and science have lead her to ongoing involvement in a citizen mycology project, cactus farming, low harm off-grid living and study of plant tissue culture.
Contact - Instagram - jesssaunderstattoo
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About Garden States Microdose Webcasts
The EGA Garden States Microdose Webcasts are designed to cover a variety of topics from the field of ethnobotany and psychedelic culture, sustainability, and related areas of interest to the community. The forums are part of the program leading up to the highly anticipated Garden States 2021 Botanical Conference. Registration for the Microdose Webcasts are free but donations are encouraged to support EGA's important work.
About EGA
Entheogenesis Australis is a charitable, educational organisation established in 2004. We provide opportunities for critical thinking and knowledge sharing on ethnobotanical plants, fungi, nature, and sustainability. Through our conferences and workshops, we aim to celebrate the culture, art, politics and community around medicine plants in the hope to better wellbeing for humankind and the planet.
To find out more about what we do, head over to our organisational website. If you like what you see, take a look at our upcoming Garden States 2021 Botanical Conference program.
Warm Regards,
The Entheogenesis Australis Team
Planting seeds for the earth, body and mind
www.entheogenesis.org
www.gardenstates.org
Note: Small booking fees may apply.
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