Saturday, January 9, 2026
10:00am – 2:00pm

$35 per person
Ages 12 and up 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 collective identification session of the specimens we found. 

We 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.

Note: This class is not a food foraging event, but an educational exploration to learn to identify and understand local fungi. For ecological conservation reasons, removing specimens from the reserve is not permitted. 

Instructor Bio:

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!

 

 

Ease of Access/Hike Level: This event includes a hike of up to 2 miles, with some easy to moderate inclines, over varied and uneven terrain. The route includes climbing over a 4-step ladder/fence-hopper. Bathrooms and water are available at the meeting location.

Weather & Cancellations: This event will go on in light rain. However, it could be canceled in the case of heavy storms, unhealthy air quality or other unforeseen circumstances. In the case of cancellation, registrants will be notified via email.

When visiting Pepperwood, please leave pets at home for their wellbeing and that of our wildlife. Thank you.

Please, no smoking at Pepperwood.

Refund Policy: Refunds will not be given for this event, aside from cancellations due to illness/medical reasons. Transferring your ticket to another person is allowed, please just contact Holland at hgistelli@pepperwoodpreserve.org to inform us of the transfer. In the case of this event being canceled on behalf of Pepperwood due to extreme weather conditions or other reasons, refunds will be offered.

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Register for this class using the secure form below.

To register, click the +Add button on the right side of the General level below. 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 Manager, at hgistelli@pepperwoodpreserve.org or (707) 591-9310 x 124.

If you do not see your confirmation email after registering, please check your “Spam”/”Junk” email folder as messages may be directed there. 

Registration opens for Pepperwood Donors on Thursday August 20, 2026;

and then opens for the public on Thursday August 27, 2026.