Let's get together VIRTUALLY! Mark your calendars and get ready to enjoy our August meeting from the comfort of your home!
Title: Demystifying DNA Sequences: A guide to the National Center of Biotechnology Information (NCBI) system
Description: You've got your mushrooms, dried them, and sent them for DNA analysis, now what? In this presentation Dr. Conrad Schoch will give us an overview of the world's biggest sequence database (GenBank) and other resources available for researchers everywhere trying to answer one of the oldest questions in the world: "what am I looking at?"
Bio: Conrad Schoch is a staff scientist at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), part of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, USA since 2009. He acts as Team Lead for the NCBI Taxonomy Group and is also responsible for the curation of fungal names in GenBank and associated databases. He obtained his MSc. (Microbiology) at the University of the Free State in 1996, after which he completed his PhD in Plant Pathology in 1999 at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa. He was a postdoctoral scientist at Cornell University from 2000 to 2003 and at Oregon State University from 2003 to 2008 where he was responsible for sampling non-lichenised ascomycetes on the first Assembling the Fungal Tree of Life (AFTOL) project. He is also past Chair for the International Committee for Taxonomy of Fungi (ICTF).
Zoom Link:
https://zoom.us/j/96693690911?pwd=YWdyeXh1bHF1N1UyNjNieFovNWFUZz09
Meeting ID 966 9369 0911
Passcode 330827
One Tap Mobile +13017158592,,96693690911#,,,,*330827# US (Washington DC)
Find your local Zoom access number: https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kQ9hr47WO
Our quarter 3 board meeting: Agenda will be made available in the days before.
Join us at Mount Rainier Nature Center at 10am to bring your mushroom samples or at 1pm to ask questions about our process or anything fungi. Our experts are excited to see you! Mark your calendars!
Mount Rainier Nature Center is located at 4701 31st Place, Mount Rainier MD, 20712
If you are bringing samples to us, please ensure that the samples have been properly documented on iNaturalist, and that each of your samples has a unique iNaturalist observation number by the time of your arrival. Follow the process below to make your observation:
MAKING AN OBSERVATION
PHOTOGRAPH BEFORE DETACHING!
DETACH
PREPARING SAMPLE FOR DNA EXTRACTION
In the link below you’ll find the slideshow used for the training on how to make observations and how to label your sample bag to serve as a voucher as well.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/18N69qmR7zaUbveKunJVO6vcwY1hSQoYobPJFaUd2HDk/edit?usp=drivesdk
We will receive your properly documented sample with our deepest gratitude
We are excited to see you there!
-Serenella Linares, Programs Chair & Megan Romberg, Science AdvisorThe Mycological Association of Washington, Inc.
To register, click the gray Register button that appears below the lodging options. (On your phone it should be just above this text and on desktop it should be to the left of this text at the very bottom.)
Join MAW for a mushroom-filled weekend in Pennsylvania's Laurel Highlands. Our foray at Camp Sequanota has been an annual event for more than 40 years. It's a great opportunity to advance your mushroom knowledge and get to know other mushroom enthusiasts. Note, this year you can add-on a Thursday evening arrival.
Our guest mycologists are Dr. Cathie Aime of Purdue University and naturalist/mushroom enthusiast Bill Yule of Connecticut.
Each day we will have mushroom hunting forays and on Saturday & Sunday we will have mushroom cooking, koji making, nature jewelry, beer making, mushroom ID for newbies, and fungal-insect investigation workshops. In the evenings, Saturday and Sunday dinner will be followed by guest mycologist presentations, a night walk on Saturday, and our third annual myco-costume/talent show on Sunday (bring along a costume, a song, a poem, a skit, etc!)
Your registration includes 8 meals (Friday evening to Monday breakfast), all forays, workshops, and evening programs. (If you add-on Thursday, Friday breakfast and lunch are included.) Onsite accommodations options are hotel-style rooms, rustic cabins, or tenting. There are also a few different hotels within 20-25 minutes of the campus. Registration closes August 14, 2025.
Also, please consider volunteering an hour of your time for cleaning foraged mushrooms, cleanup at the end of the event, and various other tasks.
If you want to carpool, here's the link to add your name as a driver or rider.
Guests are not permitted to bring dogs to Sequanota.
Come to Mount Rainier Nature Center (MRNC) on Thursday September 4th at 6:30 and make mushroom figurines with Programs Chair, Serenella Linares and the MRNC staff! Using polymer clay, sculpt your mushies and bake to set. Use your figurines to decorate your ears, neck, keychain or terrarium!
Fee: $10 (R), $13 (NR). Supplies provided
Activity for adults and teenagers (13+)
REGISTRATION REQUIRED! Please register at: http://bit.ly/3InRHNe
For questions please contact Serenella.Linares@pgparks.com
It is National Mushroom Month, baby! We continue this month long celebration the Mycological Association way, getting outside with iNaturalist! Mark your calendars!
The Anacostia Watershed is home to an incredible number of species, and it takes a village to get out there and document them all. A bioblitz is a "Census of the Natural World" where over a short period of time, communities go out and document the species they see. The very first bioblitz was held at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens. This year they're celebrating the 9th Anniversary of our spearheading of the Anacostia River Bioblitz.
The Mycological Association of Washington DC will be represented through one guided walk for attendees and an information table. Come to find mushrooms with us and get your mushroom questions answered. We look forward to see you!
Let's get together IN-PERSON! Mark your calendars and REGISTER for this unique opportunity to walk with our September speaker, Sneha Ganguly, Founder of Kali Mushrooms!
Meet at the trail head of the Dogwood trail, Greenbelt Park.
This is an ID only walk to see what we can find before the in-person monthly meeting at 3 PM.
Our schedule for the day:
If you would like to give a ride or need one yourself do so at Carpool Signup
Have questions? E-mail us at programs@mawdc.org
See you all there!
Serenella Linares, Program Chair The Mycological Association of Washington DC
Let's get together IN-PERSON! Mark your calendars and REGISTER for this unique opportunity to meet Sneha Ganguly, Founder of Kali Mushrooms!
The meeting will be held IN-PERSON at Mount Rainier Nature Center.
Title: Foray into Fungal Pigments
Description: This presentation will cover the art and science of novel fungal pigments, including melanin, UV-fluorescence, xylindein and spalting varieties, and lichen derived pigments. The lecture will introduce wild species with pigment potential, explore extraction methods, highlight recent scientific research, and examine applications across culture, science, and industry. This program is ideal for those interested in materials science, natural dyeing, and ethnomycology.
Bio: Sneha Ganguly (born 1989, Jamshedpur, India), also known as Kali Mushrooms, is an interdisciplinary artist identifying and studying wild fungi with a special interest in biological materials and pigments, to create handmade papers, inks, dyes and extracts. Her work explores the potential of mushroom- and mycelium-based materials as a creative medium. As part of the New York Mycological Society, Sneha co-founded NYC’s inaugural Fungus Festival. Currently, she instructs courses on applied mycology and mushroom cultivation for Cornell Small Farms, as well as for parks, community and cultural organizations in the metro area. You can read about her work in the New York Times, Yes! Magazine, and Time Out NYC. www.kalimushrooms.com
From the creator of the popular game, Wingspan, comes UNDERGROVE, a game inspired in the underground trade by fungi and trees for resources! Join the party at Mount Rainier Nature Center, become a tree and start your seedlings with their mushroom relationships.
Activity for people 18+ years old.
Price: $10(R), $13(NR)
REGISTER at http://bit.ly/3GtDi1r
For questions please contact: Serenella.Linares@pgparks.com
Celebrate National Mushroom Month with this night hike at Clearwater Nature Center!
Join Mycologist Serenella Linares, and Naturalists Georgie Hardesty, Ana Ka’ahanui & Matt Felperin in this magical hike to witness nighttime sounds, flourescence, and other wonders of the dark. Bring a reusable water bottle, a charged phone, closed toe shoes, and dress for the weather.
Address: Clearwater Nature Center, 11401 Thrift Rd, Clinton, MD 20735
REGISTRATION REQUIRED! Spaces limited!
Registration will open at the start of September.
Organized as a collaboration of: Prince George's Department of Parks and Recreation, NOVA Parks, Capital Nature, National Park Service, & The Mycological Association of Washington DC
If you are trying to register, and it's full, please join the waitlist. We monitor it frequently to make spaces available as they come.
For questions contact: Serenella Linares at programs@mawdc.org
Join MAW at our popular annual event at the Brookside Gardens Visitor Center. This year's event will include myco-related vendors and swag for sale, mushroom-related demos, and our usual mushroom display table where you can browse many species of fungi and chat with some of the expert identifiers from our club. We'll also plan to have mushroom walks leaving hourly on the grounds of Brookside Gardens and Wheaton Regional Park. No registration is required for this family friendly event, and it is open to the public. For more information, contact vp@mawdc.org.
Our quarter 4 board meeting: Agenda will be made available in the days before. Presumably this will be an in person meeting.
THE MYCOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION OF WASHINGTON, DC