Details:
Fungi inhabit every aspect of the world around us, from our bodies to the land around us. They make partnerships with organisms, parasitize others, and keep the forests from piling high with logs or other plant debris. On this walk, we will survey the Gardens' grounds for fruiting bodies (mushrooms) and other fungal activity. In the case of mushrooms, we will cover edibility, toxicity, and medicinal uses all while trying to develop an eye for reading the landscape to where they might fruit. Walk Registration: Class size is limited! Registration for this walk must be completed in advance online or at the MCBG Store. The registration fee is $36.00 per participant or $26.00 for MCBG Members and covers your admission for the day. All fees are non-refundable unless the talk has been canceled or rescheduled by the Gardens. Proceeds support our nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. REGISTER NOW: www.gardenbythesea.org/fungi-walk About the Instructor: Damon Tighe grew up in Calaveras County, California and made his way to the Bay Area to attend Saint Mary's College in Moraga to study Biology and Chemistry. After stints as a teacher in Portland, Oregon, a filmmaker in Bozeman, Montana, he returned to the Bay Area to work on the Human Genome Project at the Joint Genome Institute and now works for Bio-Rad Laboratories helping teachers bring biotechnology and modern biology education into classrooms. He has fallen head over heels for fungi ever since running out of food on the John Muir Trail and wondering of the mushrooms "can I eat that?" He currently volunteers with the Fungal Diversity Survey helping to build a DNA sequence and voucher-based herbarium to understand California's diversity of mushrooms.
