I began studying the fungi from my local grocery store in 2015. At one point, I made the connection that some of these mushrooms were foraged from the wild—free food! Before I knew it, I had a very large chicken of the woods sizzling in a pan. But something was wrong... after an hour and a half of cooking, the rubbery mushroom was still unpalatable, tasting like a soggy stick. As much as I cooked it and chewed it, the thing didn't get any better. The mushroom turned out to be an old, stiff Berkeley's polypore—nothing dangerous, but an embarrassing first try.
 
I've smartened up since then, becoming more cautious about the things that I stick into my mouth and caring about other qualities besides edibility. Finding a choice edible is still a big joy in studying fungi. However, I no longer consider myself a weird mushroom hunter, but rather a much weirder mycologist. This website serves two principal functions: to share with the public my research, teaching, outreach, and consultation work as a mycologist and to document my journey towards eating 1001 mushrooms. Enjoy the fungal tales and portraits and contact me if you have any questions!

Research

Fungi are an endless source of mystery and questions for the curious. The lifetimes of a million mycologists wouldn't be enough to fully understand the Fungi. That's a good thing, though—what would mycology be without the joy and fascination of learning new things? Along the way, we may discover truths that change how we live or relate to the broader world. Learn more about my past and present research here.

Investigating the Genetic Determinants of Drug Resistance in Invasive Fungi

As a postdoctoral research fellow at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), I am part of a large, multi-instution collaborative endeavor to better treat immunocompromised children infected with invasive fungal diseases. My role in the project is to use genomics to investigate fungal evolution of antifungal drug resistance. 

Evolution of Gyromitrin

Gyromitrin is a mycotoxin produced by lorchels (Gyromitra spp.), which can cause severe poisonings if consumed without proper preparation. For my PhD, I determined which lorchels contain gyromitrin, revised the Gyromitra family taxonomy, and searched for the genes responsible for gyromitrin biosynthesis.

Taxonomy of Crust Fungi

Crusts do not evoke much excitement, even in the world of mycology. However, they are an extremely diverse, ecologically important, and fascinating group of fungi—once you get to know them. There is not much accessible information online concerning crusts, so I developed crustfungi.com to profile these interesting fungi. 

Teaching and Outreach

My teaching and outreach activities extend from the university classroom to the light-dappled woods. As a faculty member of the Wagner Free Institute of Science, I teach a free six-week course annually in the spring. I am also an active member of the Philadelphia Mycology Club for whom I give lectures and lead forays. In the past, I taught an introductory foraging workshop series with Philly Forests. As a graduate student instructor at the University of Michigan, I taught mycology and general microbiology labs to undergraduate students. I've engaged extensively with the public a co-founder and president of Madison Mycological Society, mushroom certification workshop instructor with Midwest American Mycological Information, and lead mycologist for the Michigan Mushroom Hunters Club. Click here to learn more about my teaching, professional service, and community engagement work, and contact me if you would like me to give a talk to your club or help identify mushrooms at your next mushroom fair. 

Miscellaneous

Consultation

As a professional mycologist, I am a consultant for entrepreneurs interested in cultivating fungi and other areas of applied mycology.

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1001 Mushrooms Blog

My lifelong goal is to eat 1001 fungal species. Check out my blog to read about some mushrooms I've eaten over the years.

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CV & Publications​

Here you can find my CV and PDFs of my publications. 

Contact