Mariah Rogers
Board Member at Large
The first WMS meeting I attended was in March of 2019. The topic was fungi conservation and how ‘citizen science’ survey projects can contribute to those ends. Now, working together with many other members to help keep WMS active in this difficult and distanced period, we have the beginnings of one such citizen science project and hope for growth in the future.
Whether on iNaturalist, Mushroom Observer, or perhaps in the future surveying with FunDiS (formerly NAMP), we as mycological enthusiasts are not just contributing, but also have a focus for learning and connecting with each other. This will hold true long after pandemic conditions are over, I think. On the WMS board, it is these sorts of educational, citizen-scientific, and outreach projects I would have as my focus.
I first studied fungi in-depth during the 'capstone' project of my undergraduate degree, a literature review on bioremediation. In writing that paper, fungi were producers of enzymes capable of biochemically-interesting feats to me, but I never really "got to know" them. Being in WMS, and now with these projects, I feel I am learning much more every day from other members and people around the world, for which I am thankful.
So that's a little about my history with fungi, and some of what I am most excited about as a member of WMS!
Other assorted truths include my most recent favorite fungi sighting has been of Holwaya mucida in what is apparently their anamorphic stage, the only morels I have ever found were on my first WMS foray (with thanks to Wintson and Melissa - who were there and found them with me), and while nobody has seen it yet because I neglected to put it on for our virtual meeting, I did in fact make a construction paper hat roughly approximating the yellow version of the fly amanita as a Halloween costume. As my critical paper mushroom hat making skills come along, I will be open to requests.
Any questions, discussion, or interest in my collaboration on something mycological are all welcome, I can be reached at remedioscallisto@gmail.com or on iNaturalist as mkremedios.
All WMS projects on iNaturalist are listed here - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/all-wms-projects and are browsable with or without an account! Just click around to find the fungi. If you want to join the projects, any time is good, accounts are free, and help getting oriented is available.
Whether on iNaturalist, Mushroom Observer, or perhaps in the future surveying with FunDiS (formerly NAMP), we as mycological enthusiasts are not just contributing, but also have a focus for learning and connecting with each other. This will hold true long after pandemic conditions are over, I think. On the WMS board, it is these sorts of educational, citizen-scientific, and outreach projects I would have as my focus.
I first studied fungi in-depth during the 'capstone' project of my undergraduate degree, a literature review on bioremediation. In writing that paper, fungi were producers of enzymes capable of biochemically-interesting feats to me, but I never really "got to know" them. Being in WMS, and now with these projects, I feel I am learning much more every day from other members and people around the world, for which I am thankful.
So that's a little about my history with fungi, and some of what I am most excited about as a member of WMS!
Other assorted truths include my most recent favorite fungi sighting has been of Holwaya mucida in what is apparently their anamorphic stage, the only morels I have ever found were on my first WMS foray (with thanks to Wintson and Melissa - who were there and found them with me), and while nobody has seen it yet because I neglected to put it on for our virtual meeting, I did in fact make a construction paper hat roughly approximating the yellow version of the fly amanita as a Halloween costume. As my critical paper mushroom hat making skills come along, I will be open to requests.
Any questions, discussion, or interest in my collaboration on something mycological are all welcome, I can be reached at remedioscallisto@gmail.com or on iNaturalist as mkremedios.
All WMS projects on iNaturalist are listed here - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/all-wms-projects and are browsable with or without an account! Just click around to find the fungi. If you want to join the projects, any time is good, accounts are free, and help getting oriented is available.
