2026 Fair Speakers

We had a great lineup of distinguished and up-and-coming speakers for 2026.

To browse talks by day and time, see the 2026 Speaker Schedule.

Talks:

Friday: Revealing Fungal Secrets: Apps and Programs for Mushroom Discovery

Alan Rockefeller

Researcher and Photographer

Talks:

Saturday: Fungal Sporecasting: From Continental to Local Spore Drifts and Constraints on Fungal Dispersal
Sunday: Truffles in the Wind: Unexpected Airborne Pathways for Underground Fungi

Andrew Ratz

Field and Lab Technician | University of Minnesota

Talks:

Friday: Tips and Techniques for Cooking With Mushrooms

Chef Bob Wynn

FFSC Minister of Culinary and Sustenance

Talks:

Sunday: Question And Answer Session about Identifying and Cooking Wild Mushrooms
Sunday: Mushroom Cooking Demo with Tasting and optional Wine Pairing

Chef Chad Hyatt

Chef and Author

Talks:

Saturday: The Underground Internet, 30 Years Later
Sunday: Sea Islands, Sky Islands, and Dry Islands: the Biogeography of Macrofungi

Christian Schwarz

Research Associate | UCSC

Talks:

Saturday: The Top Ten Edible and Poisonous Wild Mushrooms
Sunday: DNA Sequencing for the Fungus Federation

Douglas Smith

Photographer, Educator, and FFSC Science Advisor

Talks:

Saturday: Medicinal Mushrooms Traditional Usage in Chinese Medicine and Modern Scientific Research
Monday: Energetics of Medicinal Mushrooms in Traditional Chinese Medicine: How they Work Along with Herbs to Treat Various Conditions

Dr. Bill Schoenbart

Practitioner of Chinese Herbal Medicine and Acupuncture

Talks:

Sunday: Poisonous Mushrooms
Monday: What You Need to Know About Poisonous Mushrooms

Henry Young

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

Talks:

Saturday: Fungi in Art Through Space and Time
Sunday: The Mystery of Amanita phalloides

Jason Raiti

Botany-Mycology Graduate Student, Pringle Lab | University of Wisconsin–Madison

Talks:

Sunday: Mushroom Cooking Demo with Tasting and optional Wine Pairing

Jeff Emery

Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard

Talks:

Sunday: Commercial Mushroom Cultivation

Kyle Garrone

Production Manager, Far West Fungi

Talks:

Saturday: Introduction to Mushroom Identification
Saturday: Introduction to Mushroom Identification
Sunday: Question And Answer Session about Identifying and Cooking Wild Mushrooms

Phil Carpenter

FFSC Science Advisor, NAMA Representative, and past CEO

Talks:

Saturday: Truffles: The Egos, Ecology, and Economics of Cultivating and Hunting Nature’s Nuggets of Gold

Stephanie S. Jarvis, MSc

Dir. of Mycology R&D | M2 Ingredients; Founder | Pacific Truffle Growers

Talks:

Saturday: Getting Started with Cultivation

Vellany Pierce

FFSC Prime Minister