Mushrooms of the West Coast - October 2024

Join Raincoast Education Society for their popular annual Mushrooms of the West Coast course!

Date

October 11 - 13, 2024

Organization

Raincoast Education Society

Instructor

Dr. Andy MacKinnon

Instructor

Dr. Kem Luther

Contact

Ucluelet Community Centre
500 Matterson Drive, Ucluelet
V0R 3A0, BC.
T:
250-726-6805

Outline:

This weekend field course from the Raincoast Education Society will introduce participants to the wonderful world of West Coast Mushrooms. Topics to be covered include introduction to fungi (what are they, and what is their role in our forests?), essentials of collecting and identifying fungi in the field, edible, medicinal and poisonous fungi, cooking with wild mushrooms, and more!

Friday (7:00 pm – 8:30 pm)

  • Presentation – overview of wild mushrooms, different fungus groups, role of fungi in ecosystems, and mushroom identification.

Saturday (8:30 am – 5:30 pm, and 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm)

  • Field collection of wild mushrooms at field site.
  • Sorting of mushroom collections, spore prints, microscope ID session.
  • Mushroom cooking demonstration and tasting.
  • Evening presentation on foraging and identifying edible mushrooms.

Sunday (9:00 am – 1:00 pm)

  • Field collection and identification of wild (edible) mushrooms.
  • Group lunch and course wrap-up.

About the instructors:

Dr. Andy MacKinnon is a forest ecologist who lives in Metchosin BC. His fields of study include BC’s native plants, fungi and lichens. Andy is co-author of Mushrooms of British Columbia , and of six field guides to plants of western North America. He is an Adjunct Professor in the School of Resource and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University, and past President of the South Vancouver Island Mycological Society.

Dr. Kem Luther has lived in Nebraska, Illinois, Wisconsin, Virginia and Ontario. He is a Canadian citizen and currently resides in Victoria, British Columbia. Kem has been on the faculty of several universities. He began writing for non-academic readers in the early 1990s. Among other books he is co-author with Andy of Mushrooms of British Columbia.

PC: Adam Chilton 

Prerequisites:

None

Course fee:

$330

How to register:

Register with the link below!