This weekend field-course 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!
Course Registration is $240 per person, and includes lunch on Saturday and Sunday.
Friday (7:00 pm – 8:30 pm)
• Introductory presentation for mushroom course participants – overview of wild mushrooms, different fungus groups, role of fungi in ecosystems & mushroom identification.
Saturday (8:30 am – 8:30 pm, with breaks)
• Field collection of wild mushrooms at field site.
• Sorting of mushroom collections, spore prints, microscope ID session.
• That Mushroom looks delicious! Will it kill me?
Sunday (8:30 am – 1:00 pm)
• Field collection and identification of wild mushrooms at field site. Group lunch and course wrap-up.
About the instructors:
Dr. Shannon Berch is an Emeritus Research Scientist with the BC Ministry of Environment in Victoria and a founding member of the South Vancouver Island Mycological Society and the Truffle Association of British Columbia.
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 six field guides to plants of western North America, an Adjunct Professor in the School of Resource and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University, and President of the South Vancouver Island Mycological Society.
