Our 2025 Presenter Roster
Elora Adamson
Elora is an environmental educator, naturalist and mycology enthusiast. She currently works for the BC Biodiversity Program with her work focused on making fungi collections in undersampled areas of the province. She is excited to be coordinating the new MycoMap BC project, aiming to document fungal biodiversity in the province through DNA sequencing. Elora is also a board member for the South Vancouver Island Mycological Society and enjoys running mushroom walks, teaching introductions to Mycology and crawling around on a mossy forest floor.
Juliana Bedoya
Born in the Colombian Andes, Juliana Bedoya is a community-engaged environmental artist who supports individuals and community groups to explore their own cultural significance through skill sharing, including all stages of ethically harvesting and processing raw plant materials for art-making and environmental art practice.
Respectfully using ancestral skills and traditional knowledge that navigate across cultures, and mainly working with garden trims and invasive plants (or as she calls them, “settler plants”), this work also aims to support local ecological restoration that fosters native ecology. Through Plants Are Teachers, she seeks opportunities to creatively connect with the local landscape while cultivating reciprocal relationships with the land and people.
Providing educational opportunities as entry points to interact with plants as teachers and more-than-human beings who carry intrinsic knowledge, Juliana invites people to explore different technologies to interrelate with the territories they inhabit for an ongoing search for relationship with the natural world.
Kent Brothers
Kent Brothers is an amateur mycologist who has had a keen interest in biodiversity in general and macrofungi in particular for 25 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).
Mandie Bumble
Miss Bumble is an Illustrator, Painter, Textile & Felting Artist creating on the unceded territory of the K’ómoks First Nation, in the province known as BC, Canada. The artist takes large inspiration from local mycology (study of mushrooms) as well as west coast natural flora and fauna in her illustrations and fibre works.
Dawn Copeman
Dawn is an avid forest explorer, community historian 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. Dawn has recently been championing to have the red belted conk as the village’s official fungus.
Corvee Foragers
Vanessa Sharkey and Cory Cliff have created a powerhouse of a venture that both revives indigenous traditional medicines and allows others to accompany them and learn how to harvest, process and create these medicines in sustainable and respectful ways. They share their knowledge everywhere we go.
DEATH CAFE Facilitators: Rhianna Walz & Richard
Rhianna: By surprise Rhianna fell completely in love and wonder with death, dying and grief work back in 2007 when she started her Hospice volunteer training. She feels blessed to sit with others and bear witness to their processes…. especially over tea and cake!
Richard has been a gardener since he was 5yrs. old and is still in awe of the circle of life. His connections with nature continue to be a source of joy and inspiration as he explores what it means to be human. He believes that the contemplation of what is called death is a path to greater fulfillment in life.
Driem
(Aaron Handford) is a producer of organic electronica, deep house & downtempo bass whose festival credits include Burning Man, Pachena Bay, Valhalla Fest, Burn In The Forest, Otherworld, & SubLunar and releases on the Visionary Shamanics and Lump Records label.
He is inspired by the intersection of the traditional musical legacies of Africa, India, Europe and the Middle East with modern sample based electronic music making methods and is an active music producer. He enjoys collaborating with vocalists and instrumentalists to co-create musical journeys. His artistic goal is to forge connections between the spheres of deep house, downtempo global bass music, jazz, and world rhythms.
Erin Feldman. M/Sc. Biology
Erin has a background in molecular biology and genetics, and I recently left the world of academia to establish “Me, Mycelium & I”, a fungal cultivation and education business. She has had the pleasure of wandering in forests across North America talking passionately about local Funga for nearly 2 decades and, more recently, wandering among the trees of Vancouver Island with her favorite little mycologist-in-training, Erin as a co-founder of MIMSY (Mid-Island Mycological SYmbionts). .
Owner/Operator: Me, Mycelium & I
Lyndsay Fraser
Lyndsay is a public educator, science writer, and communications professional, co-author of 125 Nature Hot Spots in British Columbia. She has been part of the Cumberland Forest Science Pub series since its inception and brings a very special voice to our collective science explorations. And, full disclosure: her favourite topic is bizarre animal courtships and mating, so brace yourself for some mildly lewd content.
Erik Hrabovsky
Erik deeply bowed to the wisdom of the mycological queendom back in 2016 when his Free the Fungi Mushroom Co concept was conceived. Forming such a partnership with mycelium seemed only natural after witnessing them restore habitats, combat drought, clean water, cycle nutrients, build soil, remove pollutants, and introduce symbiotic relations for other life.
Erik brings to all things a diverse background, his experience as a father, biologist, natural builder, native plant enthusiast, teacher and more, to passionately cultivate (re-)integrations between people and fungi.”
Jessica & Nicholas - Amanita Allies
Jessica: aroharising.com / Nic
Jenn Laing
Jenn is a middle school and art teacher and amateur mycologist raising two kids with sensitivity and curiosity in the world of fungus and nature. Her family lives in Cumberland and regularly walks the forest in search of weird and wonderful biodiversity it is home to.
David Lyon
David is a Victoria BC-based carpenter, social housing worker and amateur fungi researcher. David has spent time living in Japan, and on a recent visit to the country he, along with local collaborators, investigated the enigmatic and elusive history of psilocybin-containing fungi in Japan.
Andy MacKinnon
Ecologist, author, activist and politician, Andy is renowned for his talents as an educator and is one of the modern architects of the widely-used biogeoclimatic forest classification system in British Columbia. His graduate research was in mycology and he is the co-author of six guidebooks to BC plants, and of the Royal BC Museum Handbook Mushrooms of British Columbia. His passion for the natural world persisted into a 30-year career as a forest ecologist. Andy is a retired registered professional forester and registered professional biologist. He still leads various field schools and guest lectures at post-secondary institutions and at Fungus Fests throughout the Pacific Northwest. Andy has an intimate understanding of BC’s coastal forests, how they have changed over time, and what is needed to safeguard them into the future.
Alison and Loys Maingon
Life-long naturalists and educators, Loys and Alison are hard-working volunteers dedicated to the conservation and restoration of natural ecosystems. They were recently awarded the Ian MacTaggart Cowan Award, recognizing their life-time accumulation of support and education they have brought to BC Nature, the Comox Valley Naturalists, the Strathcona Wilderness Institute, and numerous other organizations.
Their great passion for our animal and plant relations is matched by their knowledge of, and sense of curiosity about, the living world. Both have strong empathy for nature, as well as the ability to convey their sense of wonder about it to others. Loys and Alison are both respected scientists, who have for many years tirelessly led hikes into natural habitats, instructing participants on numerous topics.
Dr. Randal Mindell
Randal is a Comox Valley-based cryptogamic botanist with a particular interest in mosses, liverworts and crustose lichens. He completed his B. Sc. at UBC and Ph.D. at the University of Alberta and is an in demand lecturer and guide. Amble through a diversity of lichen habitats around the Cumberland Forest and learn more.
Adrian Oberg
Adrian works as a psychedelic counselor, consultant, and harm reduction coordinator on Vancouver Island. He helped to found the Victoria Association for Psychedelic Studies in 2014 and acted as Director from 2015-2023. Through harm reduction work in the city core and at arts and music festivals, as well as in-depth personal experience, he developed a familiarity with altered states that led to a practice holding space with medicine in 2016. He completed the Chiron Academy training in 2020 and trained in Psilocybin Therapy with TheraPsil in 2021. Adrian holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Victoria and is currently completing an MA degree in Child and Youth Care.
Thom O’Dell
Thom is a biologist specializing in plants, fungi and their interactions. He conducted field ecological studies in Olympic National Park as a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow. He is currently a Research Biologist for Nature Tech Nursery, Langley, BC where he works on growing plants in test tubes and employing fungal and bacterial symbionts to grow difficult to propagate plants. Thom is also the Northern Vancouver Island Regional Agrologist, BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food. In this role he helps farmers be more economically and environmentally sustainable and adapt to climate change.
Vail Paterson
Vail Paterson is a Mushroom Enthusiast from Salt Spring Island… who loves hiking in the forest and taking pictures. He is grateful to all the wonderful mushroom mentors in Pacific Northwest … who have generously shared their knowledge and experience … and loves to pay that generosity forward … with a focus on mushroom identification, bio diversity studies, collecting for dna sequencing, teaching … and leading “Mushroom Walk and Talks”.
Erik Piikkila
Erik is a Forest and Watershed Ecologist with an International Bachelor of Forestry in Finland and the University of Washington in Seattle. He has been trained by some of the premier forest ecologists in BC and the US Pacific Northwest including Dr. Andy MacKinnon and Dr. Jerry Franklin, and has developed a concept called “Ecosystem Decoding” where reading the clues on the land is important to try and understand what has happened or changed in a forest over the decades. Of interest to the Cumberland Community Forest, is Erik’s knowledge about Logging History and how that history has shaped Comox Valley Forests, and the legacies that are still being felt 100 years later. https://ecosystemdecoder.solutions/
RootZ - Wild Child RootZ
RootZ explores life as a Nature Connection Mentor, Educator and Wildcrafter. Her collaboration with wild childs of all ages and abilities for 20+ years continues to influence her creation of Nature-based offerings, enriched by community.
RootZ nurtures tiny-village building and growth through relationship-rooted connection in the wild open classroom. Her Forest and family-farm mentorship fosters life-skills, stewardship and learning from her off-grid Joy the Magic Botanical Skoolie Bus Camp. Her compassionate guidance is empowered by “coyote” 8-shields mentoring, nonviolent communication, bushcraft, plant medicine, and Indigenous wisdom.
When scouting ahead for Hand in Hand Nature Education, RootZ discovered Amanita phalloides “death cap” mushroom. With the help of local mycologists and Kent Brothers’ expertise, she harvested specimens for UBC collection and research. They were soon confirmed as the most Northern sighting on record for Vancouver Island. This immersive experience further ignited her passion-play with the wondrous kingdom of fungi. Their transformative abilities have enriched her songwriting, storytelling and curricular programming ever since.Follow her exploratory offerings and wild child mentorship stories. facebook.com/wildchildrootz
Andi Grace Rose
Andi Grace Rose is a mother, doula and former Transition House Coordinator for Lilli House. She practices folk herbalism focusing on local plants and fungi.
Heather Scott
Heather is a wild harvester, mushroom enthusiast and educator, and operator of Halcyon Wild Foods, based in Winlaw, BC. Foraging and living nomadically has deepened a connection with the land both in British Columbia and beyond.
Since 2018, she has taught about mushroom and native plant identification, ecosystem understanding and forest ecology, sustainable harvesting and wild food preservation. Much of her teaching focuses on forging a relationship with -and an understanding of- our wild places and the many interactions ongoing within it. Honouring the importance of observing the natural cycles of plants, mushrooms and animals throughout the seasons, she aims to encourage an appreciation for all that surrounds us.
Heather Soo
Heather Soo is a Professional Forester and fungus enthusiast. She is an active volunteer with the Canadian Institute of Forestry promoting forestry education through local initiatives on Vancouver Island including guiding walks in Campbell River in the Beaver Lodge Forest Lands. Heather is aco-founder of MIMSY (Mid-Island Mycological SYmbionts).
Tsimka & Michael Red
A collaboration of music from the land and from the heart (and knowing and listening).
Tsimka sings and speaks and sometimes plays a drum. Most lyrics are in Tsimka’s heritage language Tla-o-qui-aht ƛaʔuukʷiʔatḥ. Her themes deal with love, cleansing, healing, liberation through imagining and more.
Michael creates and reveals music & atmospheres with the natural sounds recorded by Tsimka from her ƛaʔuukʷiʔatḥ home territory, and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh territory (where she lived recently for 2 years). Breaking ice as light percussive rhythm, bull kelp head explosions becoming kick drum patterns, a Squamish valley wolf, a large cat in the dark.. Cixwatsac (Frank Island frogs), Swainson’s Thrush, other birds. a little creek at Hiłwinʔis, ocean, rain and mist
Tsimka’s voice is also used as an instrument through live fx and is embedded in Michael’s pre-made production (which is dubbed out and layered and effected live). Words and tones and expressions are shaped and woven into all layers of the sonic fabric, from deeply embedded to very visible.
Arleta Turnbull
Arleta, the artist and facilitator behind Yellow Petal Photo, leads nature- immersive workshops designed for those seeking deeper presence, purpose, and connection through art and in nature. Her workshops are designed to promote collective empowerment, cultural storytelling, spiritual growth, and community building through intentional art-making.
Yarrow Willard
Yarrow is a second-generation Clinical/Master Herbalist, Co-Founder of Harmonic Arts, and Director of the Wild Rose College of Herbal Medicine. Known as the Herbal Jedi on YouTube, he is an educator, storyteller, and herbal ambassador who inspires people to reclaim their health and deepen their connection with the natural world.
With a profound affinity for functional mushrooms and a lifelong love of plant medicine, Yarrow blends science and spirit, roots and reason, tradition and play. His teachings combine time-honoured healing systems with modern research, creating an innovative and accessible approach that empowers people to care for themselves — and the Earth.
Mark Worthing
Mark Worthing (he/him) is a settler of Scottish and English ancestry based on Vancouver Island. He is a multidisciplinary community organizer, researcher, and policy-analyst working at the intersections of environmental activism, applied conservation biology, decolonization and land-based methodologies. Mark is experienced in direct-action, movement building, intersectional advocacy, and ecology field-work research with a focus on the landscapes of so-called British Columbia. He works with and for many coastal First Nations communities, bringing nearly two decades’ experience working for many Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations at the global, national and grassroots levels.
Mark can be found somewhere between the old growth forests of coastal British Columbia, the boardroom tables of biodiversity-policy development, or global climate justice movement spaces where he centers a trauma-informed approach to healing, learning and creativity.
He is the Director of Programs & Campaigns at Awi’nakola Foundation.