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 $300 per person.
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. 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.
2022 Mushroom Course Photos!
