2025 Fair Speakers

Visitors at the 2025 Santa Cruz Fungus Fair were treated to fascinating talks by these speakers.

Talks:

Friday: Bioluminescent and Fluorescent Fungi
Sunday: Decoding the Forest Floor: The Art of Mushroom Recognition

Alan Rockefeller

Researcher and Photographer

Talks:

Friday: Tips and Techniques for Cooking with Mushrooms

Chef Bob Wynn

FFSC Minister of Culinary and Sustenance

Talks:

Sunday: A Mushroom Tasting with Wine Pairing

Chef Chad Hyatt

Chef and Author

Talks:

Saturday: Fungi of New Zealand The Ecology of a Young Land
Monday: Two Years of the California Fungal Diversity Study What Have We Learned

Christian Schwarz

Research Associate | UCSC

Talks:

Saturday: Top Ten Edible and Poisonous Mushrooms
Sunday: Common Mushrooms of the San Francisco Bay Area

Douglas Smith

Photographer, Educator, and FFSC Science Advisor

Talks:

Saturday: Medicinal Mushrooms Science and Traditional Usage
Sunday: Medicinal Mushrooms Traditional Usage and Modern Science

Dr. Bill Schoenbart

Practitioner of Chinese Herbal Medicine and Acupuncture

Talks:

Saturday: The Magic Mushroom Talk
Sunday: Magic Mushroom Microdosing

Dr. Christopher Hobbs, Ph.D., L.Ac

Faculty, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Talks:

Saturday: A Discussion of Poisonous Mushrooms
Sunday: What You Need to Know About Poisonous Mushrooms

Henry Young

FFSC Science Advisor, Foray & ID Specialist, Willamette Valley Mushroom Society

Talks:

Monday: Mushroom Cultivation

Kyle Garrone

Production Manager, Far West Fungi

Talks:

Saturday: Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast
Sunday: Adventures of a Mycohobo

Noah Siegel

Speaker, Author, Mycologist

Talks:

Saturday: An Introduction to Mushroom Identification (Session I)
Sunday: An Introduction to Mushroom Identification (Session II)
Sunday: An Introduction to Mushroom Identification (Session III)

Phil Carpenter

FFSC Science Advisor, NAMA Representative, and past CEO

Talks:

Saturday: From Saucepan to Science Foraging Feasting and Phylogeny

Shannon Adams

PSMS foray lead, lecturer and Mycoflora committee chair

Talks:

Sunday: Fungal Range Maps How We Build Them and Why They Matter

Thea Chesney

Naturalist

Talks:

Saturday: An Introduction to Mushroom Cultivation

Vellany Pierce

FFSC Prime Minister