Encounters with Fungi – Workshop & Foray

This highly interactive four-hour workshop with both theoretical and practical components introduces participants to the diversity, ecology and curiosities of the Kingdom Fungi, specific to fungi found in region but also within a wider Australian and international context.

It includes a 90 minute session around a specimen display table where participants will learn the basics of fungus identification, fungal ecology, and the natural and cultural history of fungi. Fungi from the local area will be displayed, discussed and examined.

Following the indoor session we’ll partake in an exciting two hour foray through various local habitat types to search for species of interest. Participants will learn to recognise the various diagnostic characteristics used to identify fungi in the field and understand their ecological significance in local ecosystems.

Participants are encouraged to bring along specimens for identification.

For the full listing of events, please see here.

DATE: SUNDAY 22 JUNE

TIME: 11:00–3PM

LOCATION: Eurobodalla Regional Botanic Garden, Deep Creek Dam Rd, Batemans Bay NSW 2536, Australia

COST: $80

BOOKINGS

Foray: Beatrix goes Bonkers – Women, Mycology, History & the Future

This exciting female foray introduces participants to the Kingdom Fungi, in the context of the history of women’s knowledge of mushrooms.

Women are thought to have been crucial keepers of fungal lore across cultures and throughout the centuries. They knew which mushrooms could cure and which could kill. It’s been said that some philandering husbands may even have met their deaths with a deadly mushroom meal courtesy of their wives.

Interest in fungi has hit an all-time high, but in 1155 Hildegard von Bingen was already writing about them in her herball, Liber Simplicis Medicinae, some in a code that has never been fully deciphered.

Who were the pioneering female mycologists?

How did First Nations women find underground truffle fungi in the desert?

And can you name the Australian woman who has discovered at least 20 new species of fungi?

In this interactive foray, Alison will share stories of the trail-blazing women behind important mycological discoveries and those who are leading the way today and open it up to your stories as well.

C’mon ladies, don your boots, grab your magnifying glass, and come and help us find mushrooms!

For the full listing of events, please see here.

DATE: MONDAY 23 JUNE

TIME: 10:00–12:30PM

LOCATION: Tanja Lagoon Camp, 142 Haigh’s Road, Tanja

COST: $45

BOOKINGS

Reading the Fungal Landscape: Mushroom Identification & Fungal Ecology Foray

Relative to plants and animals, the diversity and significance of fungi is little known. Yet fungi are vital in creating and stabilising soils, nourishing and interconnecting plants, recycling nutrients, retaining and filtering water, restoring environmental damage and essentially underpinning ecosystem health and resilience.

This workshop introduces participants to the diversity of the Kingdom Fungi and the basic principles of fungus identification and fungal ecology. You’ll learn how to identify fungi using the senses, field guides and other resources. In particular, we will explore the functional roles of fungi in various ecosystem types and different approaches to incorporating them in conservation, land management, biodiversity monitoring and bush regeneration.

Even when fungi aren’t producing mushrooms, their ‘tracks and traces’ are present in the environment. We’ll examine various habitat types like old wood, living trees and soils to look for clues of the processes and functions performed by fungi in the environment. What do they tell us about tree and ecosystem health? Which are indicators of old growth? And how do fungi respond to fire, soil compaction and other environmental stresses? You’ll get to do the detective work to ‘read’ the environment through a fungal lens!

See here for further forays, workshops and other events.

DATE: THURSDAY 3 APRIL 2025

LOCATION: PARK ORCHARDS, VIC

TIME: 9AM–11:30PM

MORE INFORMATION & BOOKINGS OPEN SOON

Café Champignon: Seminar, Book Launch & Conversation

Following in the French tradition of Café Philosophique, Café Champignon brings the curiosities of the Kingdom Fungi into active conversation. In this highly interactive seminar and discussion Alison will introduce us to both the science and aesthetics of fungi. She’ll share her experiences in the field with conservation groups, land managers and rangers, First Nations people and farmers, scientists and artists and others to ponder these curious organisms through multiple lenses. In particular, we’ll explore how we might navigate the tensions between ecology, aesthetics and conservation.

We will also launch Alison’s new book, which is both about fungi, and the photography of fungi. The title – Funga Obscura – unites the two. Through her stories we’ll cross continents and ecosystems, navigate lichen-covered landscapes, crawl in the fungal undergrowth, scale glacial extremes and duck between rainforest shadows.

You’ll have the opportunity to purchase signed copies of Alison’s books, The Allure of Fungi, Wild Mushrooming, Underground Lovers and Funga Obscura.

Participants are welcome to bring along fungus specimens for identification.

See here for further forays, workshops and other events.

DATE: WEDNESDAY 2 APRIL 2025

LOCATION: Currawong Bush Park Conference Centre, Reynolds Road, Doncaster East

TIME: 7PM-9PM AEDT

ALL WELCOME!

FREE TO ATTEND BUT PLEASE REGISTER BELOW

BOOKINGS

MOORABOOL MUSHROOM FESTIVAL

The Dark Web & Funga Obscura : A Foray in the Fungal Underground

Once overlooked, fungi are the exhilarating new poster organisms reconfiguring our understanding of the natural word and capturing the public imagination.

Fungi underpin terrestrial ecosystems, forming cross-kingdom collaborations with countless creatures and intimately entwining with plants. These clandestine relationships extend beyond trees to include every orchid and most shrubs and grasses. Symbioses are the secret to success in our highly variable climate and nutrient-deficient soils.

Although these unruly fungal renegades contravene the frameworks we use to understand life, they might also inspire the innovative thinking needed to navigate an uncertain future.

In this illustrated and interactive seminar Alison will share insights from over two decades spent in the field with fungi along with some stories of her adventures during the making of her recent book, Funga Obscura – Photo Journeys Among Fungi.

Festival Website

DATE: SATURDAY 12 APRIL 2025

LOCATION: – BACCHUS MARSH, VICTORIA

TIME: 12:00–1pm

FESTIVAL BOOKINGS

Further workshops can be viewed at this link.

DATE: WEDNESDAY 23 APRIL 2025

LOCATION: Milton, NSW

TIME: 10:00am–3pm

BOOKINGS: Greg Tedder: greg.tedder@lls.nsw.gov.au

 

MUSHROOM FORAGING MASTERCLASS

In this 5 hour workshop I’m teaming up with the wonderful and knowledgeable forager, Diego Bonetto.

We’ll be combing the pine plantations to search for edible species and to learn how to recognise their toxic Doppelgängers.

This masterclass is designed specifically for those who already have experience in harvesting edible mushrooms and are eager to expand their knowledge.

We will focus on the highly sought-after edible species that can be found in pine forests, guiding you through the fundamentals of basic field identification, how to differentiate between edible varieties and their look-alikes, where to locate them, and their ecological significance.

WHAT TO EXPECT:

• 5 hours masterclass with Diego Bonetto and Alison Pouliot

• World-class knowledge of the fungi kingdom and edible mushrooms

• Cooking/preserving/tasting session run by Forage to Feast Australia’s Marnee Fox

• A wild mushrooms-specific recipes eBook

• Follow-up information with links and tools to continue your mushroom journey.

BOOKINGS

DATE: SATURDAY 26 APRIL 2025

LOCATION: Lithgow, NSW

TIME: 10:00am–3pm

COST: $195

 

MUSHROOM FORAGING MASTERCLASS

In this 5 hour workshop I’m teaming up with the wonderful and knowledgeable forager, Diego Bonetto.

We’ll be combing the pine plantations to search for edible species and to learn how to recognise their toxic Doppelgängers.

This masterclass is designed specifically for those who already have experience in harvesting edible mushrooms and are eager to expand their knowledge.

We will focus on the highly sought-after edible species that can be found in pine forests, guiding you through the fundamentals of basic field identification, how to differentiate between edible varieties and their look-alikes, where to locate them, and their ecological significance.

WHAT TO EXPECT:

• 5 hours masterclass with Diego Bonetto and Alison Pouliot

• World-class knowledge of the fungi kingdom and edible mushrooms

• Cooking/preserving/tasting session run by Forage to Feast Australia’s Marnee Fox

• A wild mushrooms-specific recipes eBook

• Follow-up information with links and tools to continue your mushroom journey.

BOOKINGS

DATE: SUNDAY 27 APRIL 2025

LOCATION: Oberon, NSW

TIME: 10:00am–3pm

COST: $195

 

MUSHROOM FORAGING MASTERCLASS

In this 5 hour workshop I’m teaming up with the wonderful and knowledgeable forager, Diego Bonetto.

We’ll be combing the pine plantations to search for edible species and to learn how to recognise their toxic Doppelgängers.

This masterclass is designed specifically for those who already have experience in harvesting edible mushrooms and are eager to expand their knowledge.

We will focus on the highly sought-after edible species that can be found in pine forests, guiding you through the fundamentals of basic field identification, how to differentiate between edible varieties and their look-alikes, where to locate them, and their ecological significance.

WHAT TO EXPECT:

• 5 hours masterclass with Diego Bonetto and Alison Pouliot

• World-class knowledge of the fungi kingdom and edible mushrooms

• Cooking/preserving/tasting session run by Forage to Feast Australia’s Marnee Fox

• A wild mushrooms-specific recipes eBook

• Follow-up information with links and tools to continue your mushroom journey.

BOOKINGS

DATE: TUESDAY 29 APRIL 2025

LOCATION: Lithgow, NSW

TIME: 10:00am–3pm

COST: $195