Saturday, December 17, 2022
10:00am – 2:00pm

$35 per person ($30 for Friends of Pepperwood)
Ages 10 and up are welcome 
Meet at the Dwight Center

The rainy season is a great time to get acquainted with fascinating fungi that are typically unseen the rest of the year. With the winter moisture of Sonoma County, vital networks of fungal mycelium hiding under our feet and in fallen logs put forth their fruiting bodies – showing us their many mushroom forms from the more recognizable toadstools and shelf fungi to the stranger bird’s nest or jelly fungi. Join Melina Kozanitas, biologist and mycology lecturer at Sonoma State University, to learn how to find, identify, and understand local mushrooms.

This class will open with a brief lecture reviewing the essentials, and then Melina will guide you through environments in which fungi may thrive, such as mixed-hardwood forest and grassland. As you encounter mushroom specimens along the way, you will learn about the structures and defining features of various fungi species and practice identifying them. We’ll break for lunch (please bring a bag lunch) and then we will conclude the day with a microscope lab, providing the opportunity to observe microscopic details for a deeper understanding of the fungi we find.

This event includes a slow-paced hike, up to 2 miles on varied terrain. It will go on in light rain, though heavy storms will cancel.

We highly recommend that you watch our previously recorded class presentation, Mushrooms of Northern California – featuring Melina Kozanitas, before you join us. This video will give you helpful background information to support your learning in the field! Find it on our YouTube channel here.

Instructor: Melina Kozanitas – Melina Kozanitas has extensive experience studying ecology at Pepperwood as a visiting researcher through the Ackerly Lab at UC Berkeley – where she earned her PhD in Plant Pathology. Melina currently serves as a biology lecturer at Sonoma State, teaching Intro to Biology, Plant Biology, and of course, Mycology!

COVID Protocols: All events will follow current regional health safety guidelines. Please bring a mask. Masks are only required while indoors, or when 6 feet of courtesy distance from others cannot be maintained. Please practice good health hygiene, and physical distancing when possible. If you do not feel well, please do not attend.

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Register for this class using the secure form below.

To register, select the applicable level below, either General or Friends of Pepperwood and click +Add. On mobile devices, you may need to scroll all the way to the right to find the +Add button. In the pop up window, enter your attendee information and scroll to the bottom to click “Continue”. Repeat this for other attendees. Next, on the main form, you may add an additional donation amount in the open field, then click the green “Continue” button to move to the final page for payment. Click the green “Process” button on this final page to complete your transaction.

For all questions about this event, please contact Holland Gistelli, Education Program Coordinator, at hgistelli@pepperwoodpreserve.org or (707) 591-9310 x 124.

Early bird registration for Friends of Pepperwood begins at 9am on Monday, June 13, 2022. Enter the code you received as a current Friend of Pepperwood to access early registration and to receive your discount. If you’re not sure about your Friends of Pepperwood status or don’t know the code, contact Sloane Shinn, Community Engagement, at sshinn@pepperwoodpreserve.org or (707) 591-9310 x 133. Click here to become a Friend of Pepperwood today!

Registration for the general public begins at 9am on Monday, June 20, 2022.