SOMA’s (free) General Meeting at the Sebastopol Grange. Please bring any mushrooms you would like help identifying! Doors at 530pm. Potluck around 6pm.

645pm Presentation "Mapping California's Fungi with Mycota Lab's MycoMap CA Network" by Mandie Quark

Mycota Lab's “MycoMap California Network” is an engaged network of volunteer fungi collectors who are documenting biodiversity across California. This community-driven effort, fueled by collective expertise and grassroots engagement, has uncovered numerous unique and important species. This presentation will highlight some of the most interesting, rare, and remarkable fungi discovered and celebrate the dedicated collectors who found them. Through fieldwork, molecular sequencing and expansive citizen science data streams, we are creating a dynamic, comprehensive map of California’s fungi. Learn how you can help document fungi by joining this collaborative effort that is transforming mycology. This project advances fungal conservation and taxonomy while demonstrating how human networks can mirror and support the intricate networks that fungi form beneath our feet.

Mandie Quark is a molecular biologist and science writer by training and a researcher with a passion for the advancement of community mycology. Now with over a decade of experience studying, professionally photographing, and communicating about fungi to the public, Mandie has edited books and spoken at mycology events across the world. She co-founded Mycena LLC in 2023, and her work has been featured in the Guardian and the New York Times. Mandie lives in the California Bay Area while organizing international mycology events in places like Ecuador, Colombia and Costa Rica. In her position at Mycota Lab as the California Community Science Director, she is dedicated to building and empowering networks of community mycologists to document fungal diversity in California and beyond. Mandie delivers enthralling presentations that simplify complex topics while showcasing mycological research. Her favorite work entails finding and documenting rare fungi through field photography in under-documented biodiversity hotspots around the world.