The second annual interdisciplinary celebration of all things ‘shrooms takes place October 1st and 2nd and registration links are now live right HERE.

Each walk, talk and workshop is individually registered for, so you can cruise the smorgasbord of all things fungus and pick and choose the events you want to attend. All events are open-air and take place outside the Harmonic Arts building in Cumberland, in the forest, at the Comox Valley Mushrooms cultivation facility or online! Fungus lovers are also encouraged to take part in the Cumberland Forest Fungus iNaturalist Bio Bltiz taking place October 1st to 14th.

Presenters include local observationist in residence Dawn Copeman, forest ecologist Andy MacKinnon, citizen mycologist Dr. Kent Brothers, mushroom cultivator Daniel Devine, master herbalist Yarrow Willard, biologist Dr. Thom O’Dell, Denman Island wild edible mushroom forager and mycophile Megan Rose, conservation biologist and bat researcher Tim Ennis, Weird Church Cumberland, and CCFS Executive Director Meaghan Cursons.

Saturday Night Fungus Fest culminates with a very special Fungus Bazaar from 6-10 featuring art, vendors, a bar, projections and live music from Elise Boulanger, Half Asian / Amy the CODA, and a special psych lounge set from Selector Sproutsonic.

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Live stream registration is only $20 and gives you exclusive access to a live feed for all the in person talks.

Presenter BIOS

Andy MacKinnon (MSc, DSc) whose graduate research was in mycology, is the co-author of six guidebooks to BC plants. His passion for the natural world persisted into a 30-year career as a research ecologist with the BC government and a registered professional botanist. He also taught as an adjunct professor at Simon Fraser University and still leads various field schools and guest lectures at post-secondary institutions and at Fungus fests throughout the Pacific Northwest. MacKinnon is politically active as well: he currently sits on the Metchosin council.

Dawn Copeman is an avid forest explorer, community historian, photographer and ‘naturalist in residence’ for the Cumberland Community Forest Society with a passion for the wild side of the forest including the incredible world of slime molds and more recently conks! She can be found on Instagram at @cumberlandforesthag

Yarrow Willard (The Herbal Jedi) is a Clinical/Master Herbalist, Director of the Wild Rose College of Natural Healing and Co-creator of the Harmonic Arts Botanical Dispensary. Raised by herbalist parents, he has been immersed in a world of plant medicine since birth. Yarrow is an entertaining educator who is passionate about herbs, mushrooms, superfoods, advanced nutrition and the growing science of re-claiming wellness and vibrant living in the modern age.

Dr. Kent Brothers is an amateur mycologist who has had a keen interest in biodiversity in general and macrofungi in particular for nearly 20 years, not only in the Pacific Northwest but also in the neotropics.  Through guided walks in forests he enjoys sharing knowledge of the extensive diversity of fungi in ecosystems and the valuable roles that they play in the environment.  He participated in and prepared the final report for a 5-year inventory of fungi in Manning Park (640 species — http://www.vanmyco.com/Documents/ManningFungiTaxonomic.htm) and has for several years been working on a comprehensive list of the several thousand fungi reported to occur in the province of BC (http://brothers.ca/Kent/BiotaLists/BCFungi.htm).

Megan Rose is a stand up comic, improvisational performer, musician, wild edible mushroom forager and mycophile from Denman Island.

Thom O’Dell has over thirty five years experience as a biologist specializing in plants, fungi and their interactions. He received his Ph.D. in Botany and Plant Pathology from Oregon State University and held positions with the US Forest Service and National Park Service before immigrating to Canada. Thom is currently with Nature Tech Nursery in Courtenay, BC, where he manages greenhouse and nursery production and develops micropropagation methods for native and cultivated plants. He has long been passionate about nut trees and first planted chestnuts in 1985, so it is a natural progression for him to be producing hazelnut trees by the thousands. Thom is consulting biologist supporting the BCHGA hazelnut variety trial with research design, data collection and analysis.

Daniel Devine is an amateur mycologist with 3 years of mushroom cultivation experience. He has practiced all stages of cultivation from capturing wild strains from the forest to establishing outdoor mushroom beds. With a degree in Forest Health and Protection from Lakehead University and diploma in The Restoration of Natural Systems from UVic he is constantly seeking to better understand the natural cycles, rhythms, and systems that perpetuate life on our planet. His true passion is for ecosystem restoration and sustaining biodiversity. While working at a native plant nursery he came to understand that each person has the capability to help sustain biodiversity and combat climate change by the widespread planting of native plants. He’s become a slower mountain biker lately as he often finds himself stopping to look at a mushroom that has caught his eye on the trail.

Tim Ennis & Meaghan Cursons are Executive Directors of the Comox Valley Land Trust and Cumberland Community Forest Society respectively. Additionally, Tim is a conservation biologist and in demand consultant for large scale land protection and restoration projects in the Salish Sea Region. Meaghan is an event producer, musician and inter-disciplinary conservation professional. Together they form 3/7 of the Cumberland Bat Project.

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If charitable giving is part of your financial strategy this year, we would be honoured to be considered.