Turnagain Arm Mycological Society
2024
Mycologists and
Workshop Presenters
Steve Trudell
Visiting Mycologist
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Dr. Steve Trudell is an affiliate curator in the Burke Museum Herbarium at the University of Washington. He has been photographing and identifying mushrooms and studying their ecology for nearly 50 years. Steve serves on the editorial boards of, and has written for, several mycological publications, and frequently serves as foray mycologist or invited lecturer for mycological societies and other nature groups, including 12 Girdwood Fungus Fairs. He is the author of Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest and co-author of Mushrooms of the National Forests in Alaska and the forthcoming Mushrooms of Alaska field guide. In 2014, he received the North American Mycological Association’s Award for Contributions to Amateur Mycology. With degrees in geology and forest ecosystems analysis, Steve has taught mycology and other environmental science courses at the University of Washington, The Evergreen State College, and other institutions. His research interests include mycorrhizal ecology and the roles of fungi in forest nutrient cycling.
Ron Hamill
Visiting Mycologist
Ron Hamill has lived with fire. His “love” of post fire habitats is somewhat by necessity. He’s experienced over 20 significant wildfires from close to way too close, and observed many more. He has spent countless hours observing forests, fungi and postburn landscapes. Ron Hamill has spent a lifetime in the field observing nature. He discovered mycology while attaining a botany degree and has been deeply interested in the taxonomy and ecology of fungi ever since. He has worked as a field mycologist and botanist for 30 years, doing surveys to describe habitats and to record and document rare and uncommon species from California to Alaska. He is a member of the Pacific Northwest Key Council and is a founding member of The Cascade Mycological Society.
Kymi Draeger
Visiting Mycologist
​Kymi is the forest pathologist for South-Central Alaska (Forest Service -Forest Health Protection - State, Private, and Tribal Forestry), and a mycologist at heart. She is interested in all dead/dying trees as they decompose into soil, and she spends a lot of time with a microscope (the only way to look at pathogens and crust fungi). For her M.S. she grew Oyster Mushrooms and accessed fungal biodiversity microscopically and molecularly for a PhD from the University of Wisconsin - Madison.
Kate Mohatt
TAMS Mycologist
Kate Mohatt is the vegetation ecologist for the Chugach National Forest. She started and has organized the Girdwood Fungus Fair from 2008. She has been collecting fungi in Alaska since 2006 and co-authored the Mushrooms of the National Forests in Alaska brochure with Steve Trudell. She is the founder and president of the Turnagain Arm Mycological Society.
Kitty LaBounty
Visiting Mycologist
Kitty is an enthusiastic naturalist from Sitka Alaska that principally focuses on plants, fungi and birds. For the last few decades, she has taught Sitkans how to get started with mushroom identification in an annual fall workshop. At the University of Alaska Southeast, she worked with many undergraduate students studying the relationships and roles of fungi in the ecosystem. She collects for the table, the dye pot and just to take a closer look at the local fungi. At the University of Washington, LaBounty studied mycology with Daniel Stuntz and Joe Ammirati. She continued her mycological studies on mycorrhizal associates of different crop species at the University of California Riverside.
Far North Fungi
Workshop Presenters
Gabe and Allison started their gourmet mushroom business Far North Fungi, in 2016, but have been obsessed with mushrooms for over a decade. Genetics, foraging, mycomaterials, farming and beyond, they have a breadth of knowledge. Join them in either their cultivation or tincture workshops to grow your own mushrooms, make your own tincture and learn how fungi can be incorporated into a sustainable future.
Teresa Paquet
Workshop Presenter
Teresa is a fungus dye hobbyist who was first introduced to dyeing with mushrooms in and has since attended many dye workshops since. "I enjoy the process and the results, which are typically a surprise. You never know what you are going to get!. She is a member of the Turnagain Arm Mycological Society and has assisted with and presented dye workshops held at the Fungus Fair over the last several years.
Girdwood Brewing Company
Workshop Presenters
Rory and Brett Marenco the brew engineers at the Girdwood Brewing Company will be sharing their knowledge of fermenting during a new in 2024 Fermentation workshop.
Gabriel
Foray Leader
Gabriel is co-president and a founding member of the Turnagain Arm Mycological Society. He was inspired to learn as much as he could about mushrooms after watching the “Know Your Mushrooms” movie when he was 3. He has been leading forays at both the Girdwood and Cordova fungus festivals for 7 years, and is much more interested in finding cool mushrooms than eating them! Recently he has completed 2 upper level courses on Fungi of the Sierra Nevada with Dr Brian Perry of San Francisco State University.
