ALAN ROCKEFELLER, COUNTER CULTURE LAB
Alan is a mycologist stationed in Oakland, CA where he works out of Counter Culture Labs in support of the Citizen Science Project. His focus is plant and mushroom identification ( especially hallucigenic mushrooms of Mexico), photography, PCR, sequencing, phylogenetic analysis and the phylogeny of basidiomycetes.
Dr. ALAN E. & ARLEEN BESSETTE, MA
Dr. Alan E Bessette and his wife, retired psychologist & mycologist Arleen Bessette, MA, authors of numerous mushroom books, are teaching a program about "Mushrooms of Georgia", as well as workshop.
MARK HABERSTROH / AUBURN, AL
Mark Haberstroh is a world traveler, mushroom enthusiast and has worked at retreats in Mexico, Jamaica and Costa Rica in support of scientific development and therapeutic use of psilocybin mushrooms. He is currently preparing to work in Amsterdam for a few months before our festival. His latest work will be with Truffles Therapy. He is excited to be speaking with us about the evolving climate of legal magic mushroom use, as well as their use in general. In the pictures: with Dennis McKenna and Rick Doblin, founder of MAPS.
DARRYL PATTON, THE SOUTHERN HERBALIST
Darryl is a renowned herbalist with a large following in Alabama and will talk about MEDICINAL MUSHROOMS and how they can help us. He operates a HERBAL SCHOOL in Mentone, AL. https://thesouthernherbalist.com/
CHRISTIAN KILLEBREW-MARR, STETSON UNIVERSITY
Christian will talk about MYCOREMEDIATION and how mushrooms can help remedy environmental damage, including nuclear and agricultural waste.
MARK HABERSTROH / AUBURN, AL
Mark Haberstroh is a world traveler, mushroom enthusiast and has worked at retreats in Mexico, Jamaica and Costa Rica in support of scientific development and therapeutic use of psilocybin mushrooms. He is currently preparing to work in Amsterdam for a few months before our festival. His latest work will be with Truffles Therapy. He is excited to be speaking with us about the evolving climate of legal magic mushroom use, as well as their use in general. In the pictures: Dennis McKenna and Rick Doblin, founder of MAPS.
SAM LANDES MUSHROOM CLUB OF GEORGIA
Sam is in charge of running the speaker pavilion with the assistance of other mycologists. He represents The Mushroom Club of Georgia, which is an educational organization with the purpose to promote the enjoyment, study, and exchange of information about wild mushrooms. Everyone who has an interest in wild mushrooms is welcome to become a member. To achieve our purpose we sponsor activities that include:
- Organized walks and forays to find wild mushrooms, led by knowledgeable club members and/or expert mycologists.
- Regular programs and classes to teach scientific methods for identifying wild mushrooms.
- Recipe exchanges and special dinners to experience the culinary delights of cultivated mushrooms.
- Participation in programs to educate the public about the many aspects of mushrooms.
- the the cultivation of edible mushrooms. https://www.gamushroomclub.org/index.php
ANTHONI GOODMAN/ President of the ALABAMA MUSHROOM CLUB
Anthoni is building a club for the interested people of Alabama (and nearby) to discuss the diverse, photogenic, and often quite tasty mushrooms in our region. He is also an excellent chef who entertains us with his newest kitchen creations. https://alabamamushroomsociety.org/ The club is there to help each other identify unfamiliar fruiting bodies, share good foraging territory with the new folk, gloat excellent finds, share recipes, and generally encourage each other to get out there and explore! Please keep posts related to mushrooms and don't be rude. I encourage mycophagy but, as you may hear time and time again, don't eat anything you aren't 100% confident in its identification.
DARRYL PATTON THE SOUTHERN HERBALIST
Darryl Patton has been hunting, gathering and working with medicinal plants for the past 31 years on Lookout Mountain in the Southern Appalachians. Darryl is an ND as well as a Master Herbalist and brings many years of experience to the field of alternative medicine. Known for his easy going approach towards teaching the identification and uses of medicinal plants, Darryl has been called a walking encyclopedia of herbal folklore.
https://thesouthernherbalist.com/
He uses his Facebook group "Wild Edibles of Alabama and Surrounding States" for the identification of wild edibles, but refers more detailed questions to his herbalist group.
PAT HIGH, PRESIDENT OF THE FLORIDA MUSHROOM FESTIVAL
Pat is a grower in North Florida and operates a mushroom growing business and the Florida Mushroom Festival together with her partner Tray Frog. She brings a ton of experience and will host mushroom growing, cooking with mushrooms and mushroom facial workshops. This will be fun!
JESSE AKZOBEK FERAL FORAGING
Jesse has his own wild foraging and nature photography group in Huntsville, AL and will teach us how to take perfect pictures of all wild things. He has many years of experience and his members love his wild edibles and mushroom forays in the mountains of northern Alabama.
TAYLOR PALMER SUNLIGHT APOTHECARY
Tatlor will talk about his healing mushroom and herb tinctures that have been used since ancient times to treat a variety of conditions, such as headaches, depression, nervous stomach, constipation or prevention and maintaining mental and physical stamina.
TOM LANE THE CULT OF QUETZALQUATL
Tom's recently published book "Sacred Mushroom Rituals" talks about the Mesoamerican deity Quetzalquatl, the God of wind and wisdom. He was thought to be a boundary-maker (and transgressor) between earth and sky. He was a creator deity having contributed essentially to the creation of Mankind.
KINGDOM OF FUNGI
TREE OF LIFE
This tree is based on multiple analyses of ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequences alone (Hibbett and Thorn 2001; Hibbett and Binder 2002) and analyses that combine protein-coding genes and rRNA genes (Matheny et al. 2007).
