Just in time for the October flush of mushrooms all over the Northwest, we have a new speaker for this month's general meeting, and she'll be talking about Mushroom Identification, a topic near to all our hearts. Leah Bendlin is a Portland-based mushroom and community science enthusiast. She'll join us Thursday, Oct. 14, at 7 pm via Zoom. She'll cover the basics of mushroom identification for beginners, including mushrooms' physical features, lifestyles and ecology. Members can learn more about the…

For our November general meeting, via Zoom, we'll hear about psychedelic mushrooms, the state of research and the prospects for therapy, from  Dr. Sandeep Nayak, a clinical psychiatrist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research. Here's the Zoom link:  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84106102951?pwd=LzBmc1hSV1FPUHpFcHZsSWQvUlJvUT09 If you are prompted for credentials, the Meeting ID is 841 0610 2951 and the Passcode is 829270 .

Fungi are hungry, and they can evolve to consume all sorts of compounds that are usually hard to digest -- including toxic wastes. Jack Johnson, a molecular mycologist and community scientist, will talk about this fungal feature on Thursday, Dec. 9, at 7 pm. He'll discuss the ecology, history and industry of what's called bioremediation. He's a member of the South Sound Mushroom Club and lives in the Olympia area. To join our December meeting, here are the Zoom credentials:…

Aaron Hilliard, KPMS vice president, is the proprietor of the YouTube channel Mushroom Wonderland, which in just 18 months has grown to more than 10,000 subscribers. His 60-some videos capture the excitement of exploring Northwest habitats in every season. (One of them has more than 100,000 views.) Aaron will tell us -- and show us -- how he came to both mushrooming and videography. He'll offer tips for anyone who wants to pursue mushroom identification, filmmaking, or YouTube fame.  …

Alan Rockefeller is an avid mycologist both in the field and in the lab. Immersed in the mushroom world for more than 20 years, he has filed more than 21,000 observations with iNaturalist, is on the leading edge of DNA sequencing, and is the chief mycologist for Mimosa Therapeutics. For our February meeting, he'll talk about how to photograph mushrooms and how to identify them. Join us via Zoom at 7 pm on Feb. 10. Here is the Zoom link:…

A Tale of Two Continents -- Wendy So has chased mushrooms from California to the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, the Southwest, Europe, Asia and Africa. Now she experiments in the kitchen with under-appreciated mushrooms. For our March general meeting, she will discuss mushroom hunting and eating traditions in two mushroom-loving regions -- southwest China and south-central Africa -- and contrast them with ours in North America. A resident of Mendocino County, Wendy So played significant roles with the Mycological Society of…

Exploring the Southeast -- What would you find in the woods if you lived in the Southeast U.S.? What's different? What's dangerous? Our April speaker is Anna McHugh, who lives in North Carolina and celebrates local mushrooming with her popular YouTube channel. She'll cover ecology, identification and taxonomy. Her talk begins at 7 pm on April 14. Here's the Zoom link:  https://zoom.us/j/97769383325?pwd=SHE4eldHN0lidEIwOTZ3RWdNa3hkQT09 Credentials are: Meeting ID: 977 6938 3325 and Passcode: 038709

Our spring mushroom season is dominated by the hunt for morels, from mid-April well into June. For a guide to what's out there, when and where to find them, and how to tap into the burn morel bonanzas, we've turned to Paul Hill. You'll find him on Facebook, at Puget Sound Mycological Society events, behind the scenes at MycoMatch, and in the field with his camera.  His talk will be at our May general meeting, via Zoom at 7 pm…