About Us
The Mushroom Society of Utah is an all-volunteer organization that seeks to provide opportunities for recreation and socializing for those in our community interested in mushrooms.
To encourage and foster the local awareness, understanding, and sustainable enjoyment of mushrooms, we aim to emphasize the following objectives:
● Education and Mentoring
● Community and Social Interaction
● Culinary Applications
● Awareness and Appreciation
● Scientific Contribution
Check out this special on our 2019 Fall Foray from KSL Outdoors!
History
The Mushroom Society of Utah was founded in 1993 by Ardean Watts and several charter members who shared an interest in mycology (the study of fungi). The first ever MSU foray took place at Fish Lake in conjunction with the Utah Native Plant Society.
KUER's RadioWest's short video of Ardean in 2015.
Activities
EDUCATION
We offer a handful of lectures, workshops, demos, and/or classes throughout the year. These opportunities range from beginner-level material to new advancements in niche corners of the fungal world.
SOCIALS
In the mushroom world, the best resource is your community. We aim to provide opportunities to spend social time together in order to build these bonds.
FORAYS
We wouldn't be a mushroom club without 'em! If you're new to this world, a "foray" is a small-group mushroom expedition. Our knowledgable leaders pick spots and guide participants to fungal finds. The purpose of a foray can be to hunt for edibles, enjoy the beauty and diversity of fungi, or collect data and specimens for scientific study:
Starting in 2021, MSU began hosting the Northern Utah Funga project.
The goal of this project is to contribute high quality mushroom observations to the iNaturalist database and to describe the fungi of Northern Utah, including rare, potentially threatened, and under-documented species. NUF plans to maintain a collection of northern Utah fungi for use in DNA sequencing, vouchering specimens in curated fungaria, and lead mycology and citizen science education.
Our Board
Participants of all knowledge levels and experience are welcome to our events. Visit our event page to see what we are typically up to and when.
Aimée Nguyễn, President
Aimée’s journey with fungi began with an interest in foraging for edibles but unable to satiate her curiosity, this quickly evolved into a passion for studying and appreciating fungi in all aspects. From the knowledge she gained through her amateur studies, she began an after-school Intro to Mycology enrichment course for 8th graders in 2022. In creating the curriculum, she was challenged with the fact that the field of study is not readily accessible and decided to expand her teachings by serving as a general member on the MSU board in 2023, moving into the presidency the year after. She holds a Masters degree in The Art of Teaching and undergraduate degrees in Biology and Creative Writing. Her current projects for the society are educational programing and events.
Jesse West, Vice President
Jesse was born and raised in East Tennessee. He grew up enjoying nature and began taking an interest in fungi after moving to Knoxville. After graduating from college, Jesse started working as an advocate for the hemp industry and other natural resources. Jesse moved to Utah in 2022 and attended an MSU foray. Elected as vice president in 2023, he has enjoyed connecting with the community and is happy to help be a voice for mushrooms. Jesse is currently working on vamping up the social aspect of our society to help build community with the creation of our social planning committe.
Ashley Simon, Past President
Ashley got involved with the Mushroom Society of Utah in 2017 after finding a mysterious mushroom in her lawn. This expanded into learning mushroom identification and moderating online discussion groups on the topic. Since then, she has served as a general board member in 2020 and as president of MSU from 2021–2023. She holds a Master's degree in Middle East Studies and Linguistics, and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. Her interests include leading forays, understanding fungi as part of a larger ecology, community science and conservation.
Dmitri Smirnov, Treasurer
Dmitri grew up in Russia, where foraging for edible mushrooms is a national sport. After moving to the US, he discovered that fungi are not that different in this part of the world. He got involved with the Utah Mushroom Society in 2020 and became the society's treasurer in 2023. Upon retiring from his corporate career in finance, he now enjoys travelling, skiing, sailing, fishing, gardening, and, of course, mushroom hunting in the local mountains.
Logan Seat, Sectetary
Logan was born and raised in Salt Lake City, where he lived until heading out to Los Angeles to attend Loyola Marymount University where he studied Psychology and Management and learned to surf! After college, he came back to Salt Lake to be around his family (and the mountains) and started a job with Intermountain Research as an Administrative Coordinator. In his free time, he loves any and all outdoor activities, but lately has been especially into wildlife photography. He also plays the guitar and is an avid reader, which keeps him occupied when the weather is bad. Recently, he moved into an old church building in Sugarhouse and has thus been busy buying lots of furniture and art for the new place!
Chris Kleine, General Board Member
Chris has been interested in fungi ever since he took a mycology class at Oregon State University. He completed a BS in botany at OSU and an MS at the University of Wyoming. Since then, he has been studying fungi throughout Western North America, often traveling to attend different fungi convergences.
He has served on the MSU board since January of 2023, leads forays & lectures, serves on the scientific contributions committee, and frequently ID’s in Mushroom Observer and iNaturalist—he's the top identifier in our NUF Project!
Brennen Schultz, General Board Member
Brennen was born and raised in Salt Lake City. After graduating from The University of Utah with a B.S. in Urban Planning he dove head first into mushroom cultivation. He is interested in the role that mycology can play within urban ecology, architecture, design, and accessibility. He keeps an evolving collection of liquid cultures and one of his goals for his involvement in MSU this year is to organize an event geared towards cultivation enthusiasts. He joined MSU in 2022, became a foray leader the next year, and is excited to be a part of the board this year. Outside of MSU, he enjoys gardening, composting, D&D, and chess.