2025 Fair Speakers

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

Alan Rockefeller

Researcher and Photographer

Alan is a researcher, educator, consultant and speaker specializing in DNA bar-coding, field photography, and fungal microscopy. With a bilingu…

Chad Hyatt

Chef and Author

Chef Chad Hyatt, the author of "The Mushroom Hunter's Kitchen", is an expert forager and classically trained chef who ha…

Chef Bob Wynn

"Growing up on a farm in upstate New York, my job of making mashed potatoes for Sunday dinner began my…

Christian Schwarz

Research Associate | UCSC

Christian Schwarz is a naturalist based in California, the land of milk (caps) and honey (mushrooms). He teaches Natural History…

Douglas Smith

Douglas Smith has been involved in mycology for many years, looking for and photographing mushrooms on several continents. His photograph…

Dr. Bill Schoenbart

Practitioner of Chinese Herbal Medicine and Acupuncture

Dr. Bill Schoenbart is a practitioner of Chinese Herbal Medicine and Acupuncture with over 30 years of experience. He has…

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

Faculty, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Dr. Christopher Hobbs, Ph.D., L.Ac. is a fourth generation, internationally known herbalist and mycologist, licensed acupuncturist, herbal clinician, research scientist,…

Henry Young

FFSC Science Advisor
Foray and ID Specialist | Willamette Valley Mushroom Society

Henry moved to Salem, Oregon in 2016 from Santa Cruz. He is active with the Willamette Valley Mushroom Society teaching…

Jeff Emery

Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard

Jeff Emery is the proprietor, winemaker, truck driver, barrel washer, paper pusher and just about everything else for Santa Cruz…

Kyle Garrone

Kyle Garrone holds a degree in Plant Biology from the University of California, Davis with a focus on plant pathology…

Noah Siegel

Noah is one of North America’s foremost field mycologists; he has spent over three decades seeking, photographing, identifying, and furthering…

Phil Carpenter

FFSC Science Advisor

Dr. Phil Carpenter has been a member of the Fungus Federation of Santa Cruz (CA) (FFSC) since the club was…

Shannon Adams

Shannon is a passionate amateur mycologist and user experience researcher who lives in Seattle. Her interest in fungi started over…

Thea Chesney

Thea Chesney is a lifelong Sierra Nevada foothill resident and naturalist. She has had an interest in mushrooms (and plants,…

Vellany Pierce

Vellany Pierce is the Prime Minister of the Fungus Federation of Santa Cruz.

She grew up in Santa Cruz County…