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EGA Microdose E04: Fungi foraging, identification, safety, field tips, and conservation

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Garden States Microdose 

Fungi foraging, identification, safety, field tips, and conservation

 

Registration

 

Our fourth Microdose episode, Fungi Foragers, will feature fungi experts in a panel discussion about the world of mycology, covering topics on safety, ecology, and conservation. The Panel will also cover some basic ID tips for the 'active' species such as Psilocybe subaeruginosa, Psilocybe semilanceata and Psilocybe alutacea. 


Hosted by Nick Wallis & EGA 

Registration for the Microdose Webcasts are free but donations are encouraged to support EGA's important work (booking fees apply).
On Wednesday 26 May 2021 at 8:00 PM to 9:30 PM AEST

 

Synopsis: 

Autumn in southeast Australia marks the beginning of fungi season; chilly mornings, thick layers of dew, and the appearance of a variety of mushrooms and toadstools.

 

With a change in perspective toward psychoactive fungi, there are now more people than ever out foraging for active mushrooms.  With this comes the risks of picking poisonous lookalikes, the potential ecological damage caused by foragers who are perhaps a little over-eager, and what this may cause for long term conservation.  There is also the legal risk given the punishments if someone is caught being in possession of said fungi. The panel will also cover some basic ID tips for the 'active' species sound across Australia.

 

This mycological panel will feature Australian mycologists and Myco enthusiasts, Caine Barlow, Beau MeisterEma Corro, Symon Beck & Darklight, who will discuss issues of safety, ecology, and conservation. The Panel will be facilitated by Jess Saunders.

 

The EGA team have created this very special reference guide for Psilocybe subaeruginosa for the community, Which will be discussed and referred to over the webcast.

 

Bio - Caine 

Caine Barlow is a fungi educator who has been cultivating and studying fungi for 14 years. In 2019 he completed a Master's degree where his research project was to predict a preliminary conservation status for many Australian fungi.

As a fungi educator, he is passionate about encouraging people to see fungi in a new light by demonstrating how easy they are to grow in kitchen and garden environments. He likes to inspire a sense of creativity in the cloning and propagation of mycelium, experimentation with different substrates, and how to hack together equipment.

Through exploring the forests of Far South Tasmania, Caine's interest in fungi evolved from foraging to learning how to culture native species for conservation, and on to cultivating a variety of culinary and medicinal species. Then to further studies into mycorrhizal fungi, mycoremediation, and mycorestoration.

When not growing fungi, Caine volunteers his time with Entheogenesis Australis, MYCOmmunity Applied Mycology, and the Australian Psychedelic Society. He writes for DoubleBlind and is also a regular contributor, “trusted identifier” and administrator on a variety of fungi oriented website forums and facebook groups.

Caine has an Instagram account "Guerrilla Mycology” where he blogs about his cultivation techniques and the enthnomycology of fungi he finds in the field.

 

Bio - Beau

Beau Meister (karode13) is a Horticulturist and Mycologist.

 

After studying Horticulture in New Zealand, Beau took an interest in the unusual fungi that grew in the forests there. So little was known about them and this sparked an interest in fungal taxonomy that has lasted for over 20 years. When not out in the field he can be found in his garden tending to a range of Ethnobotanical plants and flowers.

 

Beau has been a moderator of the Mushroom Hunting and Identification and the Ethnobotanical Garden forums on Shroomery.org for over a decade. As well as an admin for the Victorian Fungi group, PMANZ and Victorian Mycophagy group on Facebook.

 

Bio - Ema

Ema Corro is a mycologist who believes that the best way to protect the environment is to involve the community in all aspects of science and conservation.

Ema loves everything about fungi and is always amazed by their ability to increase people’s sense of connection with the natural world. She is coordinator of MYCOmmunity Applied Mycology which is an organisation that aims to raise awareness of the importance of fungi in health, sustainability and the environment, as well as providing scientific training and resources to the community. She also coordinates the Wild Fungi DNA project which is developing environmental DNA techniques that citizen scientists can use to search for rare and endangered fungi. She is also researching using waste to produce sustainable mycelium-based construction materials.

 

Bio - Symon Beck

Symon Beck is a mycoenthusiast with over ten years of experience foraging and eating many different species of fungi on Australia’s East Coast. Symon enjoys targeting new species and seeking out new locations for hunting. He has a particular interest in Psilocybe species and other psychoactive species, and helps run the PMANZ group on Facebook. He has previously guided educational groups in the field, teaching others the basics of fungus identification and plans to continue this in the future. His academic background is in medicine and psychiatry.

 

Bio - Darklight

Darklight has been working with aseptic medicinal and endangered plant species propagation for over 20 years. Moving into fungal propagation was a natural progression ( or unfortunate side-effect, you choose. Right now, Darklight is working on long-term archiving of local NNSW fungal species for future remediation and revegetation work- the culture library consists of a fair range of local macrofungi whose ultimate purposes have yet to be revealed to us. But they're here for a reason, and so are we.

What fascinates Darklight is the progression of fungal lab technology towards being more accessible to citizen scientists. Kitchen mycology is easy, safe and productive these days. The teks keep getting better and the outputs more diverse and rewarding.

 

Bio - Jess Saunders

Jess is a botanical illustrator and tattooer living in Northern Rivers NSW/ Bundjalung country.

A love of the natural world, gardening and science have lead her to ongoing involvement in a citizen mycology project, cactus farming, low harm off-grid living and study of plant tissue culture.

 

About EGA

Entheogenesis Australis is a charitable, educational organisation established in 2004. We provide opportunities for critical thinking and knowledge sharing on ethnobotanical plants, fungi, nature, and sustainability. Through our conferences and workshops, we aim to celebrate the culture, art, politics and community around medicine plants in the hope to better wellbeing for humankind and the planet.

To find out more about what we do, head over to our organisational website. If you like what you see, take a look at our upcoming Garden States 2021 Botanical Conference program.  

 

Registration

Edited by RonnySimulacrum
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See you there folks, good to see many good SAB locals represented in special Panel :)

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EGA have found a volunteer that can help manually process tickets and registration for tonight's live stream until around 3pm today. Yes, the tickets had closed, but they are now open again for a VERY short window. Donations are appreciated where possible.

 

We are a small not for profit and a little support goes a long way. Register here - https://www.trybooking.com/BQYLK Hope to see you all tonight!

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Was this recorded? Would be great to watch! Couldn't get a ticket :(

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Hey good job on the presentation to everyone involved. Great speakers and some solid info. 

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Hey Caster, it certainly was recorded! The content will be publicly available online in three weeks. Donors have access until then. If you're keen for early access and are interested in donating, I suggest emailing [email protected].

If you're happy to wait I'm sure there will be a link posted here on SAB as soon it is available :)

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Hi folks, Yes this sure was a big one. To be sure you do not miss out in the future, sure to sign up for the EGA newsletter, that where you get the info about events, videos and all things plant and ethnobotanical community news and psychedelic related.  

 

To Stay in touch - Click Here 

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Aw crew... Jess and I just watched this for the first time, which neither of us would normally ever do, but it was a lab day here and we wanted to see how it all went from the viewer's perspective

 

It was super fun and not a bit nerve wrenching to be a part of it, we had so much ground to cover, and the EGA crew is always great to work with, so professional and inclusive and bloody thorough as well

 

But even from the other side of the screen I was proud to be a part of that webcast. It was a pleasure meeting the panellists I hadn't met before the event, hell there are some seriously talented and experienced people in the scene these days, the panel are just a representative group put together for the evening. I reckon the vid showed Australian mushroom science, and Psilocybe science in particular, as a complex topic worthy of real consideration from multiple perspectives- social, cultural, environmental, clinical, academic and legal

 

I cant thank you guys enough, EGA are really showcasing the maturity of the Australian psychedelic scene in a balanced way that's accessible for everyone- whether they're trippers or not. Whether they're rich or not. Whether they're listed on the stock exchange or not... oh fuck sorry I just went off on a tangent lol

 

Thanks to Nick and Lee and Liam who really went above and beyond behind the scenes and who also make scientific contributions in their own right ( which I'd love to hear more about )

 

And thanks to Torsten for frantic last minute tarzanning around at his place so the NNSW interwebs would behave after the satellite connection shat itself about 30 min before we started. That was some serious Chuck Norris work right there and fuck it was cold outside

 

Also the comments were brilliant. I too would snort Freud's ashes, but only if I could confirm by sequencing that they were, in fact, Freud's ashes and we had decent chain of custody documentation for them so no ash substitution was possible before they reached my nasal cavities.

 

If you're thinking of taking part in an EGA presentation or submitting some work for distribution via EntheoTV, yeah, I would definitely do that. Go for it. The EGA team is gold

 

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Thanks so much for these kind and informative comments Darklight. I agree with you the panel did showcase 'Australian mushroom science, and Psilocybe science in particular, as a complex topic worthy of real consideration from multiple perspectives- social, cultural, environmental, clinical, academic and legal'.

 

Fantastic work everyone, what a fantastic line up of contributors, we have such a rich community in Australia when it comes to ethnobotanical knowledge sharing :lol:

 

The next webcast is now up if anyone wish to register - https://www.trybooking.com/BRVWD

B)

 

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