


•2025•
Annual membership dues cover household attendance to MSU events. Details are disclosed via email at the beginning of the month and two weeks prior to each event. Want in on the fun? Join us to get event details in your inbox!
ANNUAL ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING
JANUARY 22ND
Our annual open business meeting starts the year with the opportunity for members to vote on organizational changes and share ideas for the upcoming year's objectives.
We highly value member opinion and greatly appreciate members coming to share your thoughts. Plus, if you come, you get the first pick of our 2025 member t-shirts AND get to graze on a thoughtful fungi-focused spread prepared by our Culinary Applications Committee. Yum!
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At this meeting, we will also be voting on board positions. Our secretary, Erin Moore, will be stepping down this year to continue her education. We are sad to see her go but wish her the best in grad school! This means that the position of secretary will be open for 2025, as well as that of a vacant general board member position. Terms are also up for Jesse West (VP), Dmitri Smirnov (Treasurer), and Chris Kleine (GM)—all are running for a second term which will also be voted on at this meeting.
WINTER SPEAKER SERIES
NOVEMBER '24–APRIL '25
During the foraging off-season, we host our Winter Speaker Series where we invite guest speakers from within and outside of the state to give lectures on their field of study. These talks are great opportunities to keep up with the quick-moving pace of mycological advancements and learn about niche corners of the fungal world.
NOVEMBER
In Search of the Xiao Ren Ren Lecture with Colin Domnauer - Tuesday, Nov. 12th​​
Colin Domnauer is a PhD candidate in Biology at the University of Utah. His research has taken him from the tropical forests of southern China to the remote mountains of the northern Philippines in search of an elusive ethnomycological mystery: a hallucinogenic bolete mushroom reported to induce visions of little people, the Lanmaoa asiatica. In his lecture, Colin unraveled the story of these enigmatic mushrooms, from their ethnographic history to modern relevance, weaving in scientific insights gained along his journey in uncovering the unknown psychoactive compounds in this mysterious mushroom.
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DECEMBER
​Fungi of the Great Salt Lake with Dr. Bonnie Baxter & Dr. David Parrot​ - Thursday, Dec. 19th
Dr. Bonnie K. Baxter and Dr. David Parrot are Professors of Biology and Directors of the Great Salt Lake Institute at Westminster University. Baxter’s research focuses on the lake’s extreme biology, leading to projects on the lake ecosystem and the limits of life in salt. Baxter has published dozens of scientific articles, the first academic book on the biology of Great Salt Lake, and the first children’s book about this lake. Parrot received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Humboldt State University in Northern California, and his Ph.D. in plant biology at Utah State University. He studies soil microbes growing around the roots of salt loving plants on the shore of Great Salt Lake to see if the microbes help the plants survive in this extremely salty and dry environment. Their lecture described the process and findings from their recent research to meet the fungi that are a vibrant part of the ecosystem of the GSL.
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FEBRUARY
Anthropogenic Disturbance Relevant to Utah Trees with Dr. Jon Wang - Wednesday, Feb. 26th
​Climate change and human activity are rapidly transforming terrestrial ecosystems through disturbance processes like wildfire, timber harvest, urbanization, and drought. It is crucial to understand these changes as society increasingly relies on functioning landscapes for natural climate solutions. We use drones, satellite remote sensing, and data science to map changes in ecosystem structure and function and understand how plant ecology interacts with the carbon cycle. Specifically, we are interested in vulnerability to and recovery from natural and anthropogenic disturbance, carbon stocks and fluxes, phenology, and urban heat island. Our work focuses on hot-spots of change in vulnerable ecosystems, including boreal and Arctic ecosystems, fire-prone forests and shrublands, and urban landscapes. This collaborative, interdisciplinary work relies heavily on machine learning and high-performance computation to produce large datasets, which enables us to examine time series of ecosystem change at city-to-continent scales.
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MARCH
Substrate to Body Fungal Nutrition with Tyler Hacking - Wednesday, March 12th
In this presentation Tyler will discuss in detail how fungi acquire their nutrients and how consuming fungi impacts human health. We will cover specific fungal nutrition, enzymes, toxins, nutrient mobility, bioavailability, symbiotic and pathogenic interactions, fermentation, and more! Tyler is an Applied Multidisciplinary Natural Scientist, his primary research foci are: Mycology, Botany, Biogeochemistry, Nutrition and Pharmacology. Tyler founded the UVU mycology club & the Mycological Society of Utah, he served on the education committee for the Mycological Society of America, has conducted research for the National Sciene Foundation, and regularly keynote speaks at mycology events across the country. Recently Tyler was selected as chair of the Scientific Contributions Committee for the Mushroom Society of Utah and is leading citizen research projects currently focused on Morel Mushrooms. Tyler is CEO & CTO of Dr. Gaia, a company which focuses on using agriculture biotechnologies to rapidly, sustainably and regeneratively transform soils of any type using advanced integrated compost systems which culture symbiotic native endemic microorganisms.
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APRIL
Rust Fungi with Chris Kleine - Wednesday, April 23rd
Learn all about the unique form of macrofungi "rusts" from board member Chris Klein! Details to come.
SPRING GATHERINGS
MAY
In the spring, to get ready for foraging season, we hold educational opportunities and social events for our community to come together before we're all in the mountains for the season!
WORKSHOP: Intro to Fungal Microscopy with Alan Rockefeller - Wednesday, March 21st.
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Alan will be visiting with us for a couple of days, so expect more offerings on the calendar for this week! Details to come.
SUMMER OUTINGS
JUNE–AUGUST
Summer is for forays! Throughout foraging season, volunteers within MSU lead small group mushroom-hunting trips. Forays are a fantastic way to learn from the community, meet new folk with your shared interest, and gain experience in foraging and identification.
Details tba.
FALL FORAY
LATE AUGUST
At the peak of our fall mushroom season (and season of our state mushroom, the Boletus edulis), we hold a weekend-long event full of fungal-focused lectures, workshops, forays, and fun! The Fall Foray is our biggest and most involved event of the year—you don't want to miss it!
Details tba.
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