Shannon Adams

Shannon is a passionate amateur mycologist and user experience researcher who lives in Seattle. Her interest in fungi started over 20 years ago when she relocated to the region and was impressed by the diversity of mushrooms she saw while hiking. What began as an artistic pursuit, painting botanical illustrations of fungi, evolved into a desire to identify and a deep fascination with fungal taxonomy, particularly with the genus Cortinarius. Today, Shannon actively contributes to the field of mycology by observing, collecting, identifying, and describing new species. Her personal herbarium contains over 1,500 Cortinarius, she has described two species new to science and is currently working on additional new species. She is a frequent foray lead and event speaker - primarily teaching about the Cortinariaceae but also advocating for greater participation in community science. Shannon has been a longtime volunteer at PSMS - serving two terms on the PSMS Board, teaching classes in microscopy and acting as chair for the Mycoflora sequencing committee.