Turnagain Arm Mycological Society
Presenters and Visiting Mycologists
Shannon Adams
Visiting Mycologist
Shannon's interest in fungi started 20 years ago when she moved to the Pacific Northwest and was inspired to paint mushrooms after seeing the wide variety of species in the Seattle region. Today, she is more interested in fungal taxonomy with a particular focus on the genus Cortinarius where she works on observing, collecting, identifying and describing new species. She currently has over 700 collections in her personal herbarium and has recently published her first species. Over the years Shannon has also been involved in teaching botanical illustration and fungal microscopy.
Joe Zapatosky
Visiting Mycologist
​Joe is a myco enthusiast who hails from the Pacific Northwest (Seattle) … A longtime member of the Puget Sound Mycological Society – he leads groups at club Forays and assists at ID clinics. Joe currently holds a position on the society’s Board. Over the years his interest in Fungi has transitioned from collecting for the table (which he still enjoys) to understanding their ecological role.
Dr. Shannon Nix
Visiting Mycologist
Dr. Shannon Nix is a fungal ecologist who received her B.S. from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and Ph.D. from Rutgers University. Prior to becoming a tenured professor at Clarion University of Pennsylvania, Shannon studied the impacts of anthropogenic disturbance on fungal communities as a Fulbright Fellow at the Agricultural University of Norway and as a Post Doctoral Research Associate at the University of Georgia Experiment Station. During her career as a professor at Clarion and George Mason universities, she taught undergraduate and graduate-level courses in mycology, botany, microbiology and environmental science. Now retired from higher education, Shannon regularly gives invited talks and workshops for local and regional mushroom clubs and pursues research with local collaborators and academic colleagues. Shannon is passionate about education and raising awareness of the role that fungi play in the environment and our lives.
Far North Fungi
Workshop Presenters
Gabe and Allison started their gourmet mushroom business Far North Fungi, in 2016, but have been obsessed with mushrooms for over a decade. Genetics, foraging, mycomaterials, farming and beyond, they have a breadth of knowledge. Join them in either their cultivation or tincture workshops to grow your own mushrooms, make your own tincture and learn how fungi can be incorporated into a sustainable future.
Gabriel
Foray Leader
Gabriel is co-president and a founding member of the Turnagain Arm Mycological Society. He was inspired to learn as much as he could about mushrooms after watching the “Know Your Mushrooms” movie when he was 3. He has been leading forays at both the Girdwood and Cordova fungus festivals for 7 years, and is much more interested in finding cool mushrooms than eating them! Recently he has completed 2 upper level courses on Fungi of the Sierra Nevada with Dr Brian Perry of San Francisco State University.
Teresa Paquet
Workshop Presenter
Teresa is a fungus dye hobbyist who was first introduced to dyeing with mushrooms in and has since attended many dye workshops since. "I enjoy the process and the results, which are typically a surprise. You never know what you are going to get!. She is a member of the Turnagain Arm Mycological Society and has assisted with and presented dye workshops held at the Fungus Fair over the last several years.
Kymi Draeger
Visiting Mycologist
Kymi is the forest pathologist for South-Central Alaska (Forest Service -Forest Health Protection - State, Private, and Tribal Forestry), and a mycologist at heart. She is interested in all dead/dying trees as they decompose into soil, and she spends a lot of time with a microscope (the only way to look at pathogens and crust fungi). For her M.S. she grew Oyster Mushrooms and accessed fungal biodiversity microscopically and molecularly for a PhD from the University of Wisconsin - Madison.