Bay Area Applied Mycology

06/17/2026

Our Bookclub meeting last week! BAAM met at Clio's Bookstore and Bar in Oakland and we are currently reading "Gathered" by Gabrielle Cerberville 🌿🍄 Next meetup update will be shared soon! If you are into foraging and recipes with wild food, you will love this book! Southern Magnolias are starting to bloom in the East Bay

05/05/2026

📣 Book Club announcement!! Continuing with the SOMA Camp keynote presenter theme, we are now reading and discussing "Gathered" by Gabrielle Cerberville 🧺🍄🍃A book about foraging, the relationships with the land that feeds us and how it can shape relationships with ourselves. This book is full of personal experiences with foraging wild mushrooms and plants, information, recipes and beautiful illustrations by Madison Memering
We are meeting at Clio's in Oakland on June 10th from 7-9pm. Organized by Chris Martin

📖: "Gathered" by Gabrielle Cerberville
📍: Clio's Bookstore and Bar - 7-9pm
353 Grand Ave, Oakland, CA 94610

05/03/2026

For our social this month, we are taking things OUTDOORS! Join us at Joaquin Miller Park, near the ranger station on Monday, May 18th from 6-8pm for a fun picnic in the woods. There will be some fun activities, like a scavenger hunt with prizes and snacks. Feel free to bring something to share (just not prepared with wild foraged mushrooms, please. Long story) and/or a mushroom themed item donation for the winners. Not mandatory, but appreciated. See you there!

🍄 Monday, May 18th 6-8pm (a week earlier due to Memorial Day)
Joaquin Miller Park - Ranger Station
3540 Sanborn Dr., Oakland
Picnic tables are near the big parking lot.

04/22/2026

The California premier of Daughters of the Forest, which recently premiered in Competition at CPH DOX and won an Audience Award at SXSW, is Sunday, April 26th at the Marina Theater in San Francisco 🍄

Deep in Mexico’s forests, two Indigenous mycologists seek to reconcile the past and present while reimagining the future for themselves and the changing world they inhabit. DAUGHTERS OF THE FOREST is a story of entanglements: between humans and mushrooms; the visible and the invisible; generational knowledge and modern science.

Otilia Portillo Padua (director) & Paula Arroio (film’s producer) will attend the SFFILM screening for the Q&A.
Part of the San Francisco International Film Festival

When: Sunday April 26, 3:15pm
Where: Marina Theater, San Francisco
Tickets available at www.sffilm.org

04/22/2026

Have you ever seen these bright yellow blobs in your garden and wondered, "what is that!?" Well, this is Fuligo septica; Dog Vomit Slime Mold. While it produces spores, it is not a fungus, but a plasmodia that appears in moist environments (like after watering or rain). They are harmless to pets, your plants and humans and do not need to be removed. In fact, they may even benefit your garden by breaking down decayed plant matter, turning them into further nutrients. This slide shows the progression from bright yellow to pale tan and brown as it matures. If you ARE worried about spore dispersal, do not kick or spray with the hose in it's mature, dried stage.

Photos by Aileen and Liz (with the matching nail polish lol)

04/01/2026

For April's monthly social, we are diving into the discussion of mycoremediation with Jeff Ravage and how fungi can be used to help in environment restoration

Jeff Ravage is the Chief Technology and Science Officer for Coalitions and Collaboratives, a Colorado NGO focusing on all aspects of fire, WUI communities and ecological restoration. He is a researcher in forest mycology and works closely with the Denver Botanic Gardens Sam Mitchell Herbarium of Fungi. Jeff is actively involved in work on carbon offset protocols and consults on biomass utilization and carbon policy for municipalities and agencies. He has lectured and presented papers all around the U.S.A. on fungal techniques for ecological restoration. He actively promotes novel methods of forest mitigation and restoration to achieve the goals of forest health and longevity; much of which is outlined in his book: “The Green Evolution”

🍄 When: Monday, April 27th 7-9pm
🍄‍🟫 Where: The Café Room, The Finnish Hall, Berkeley
Entrance is on the bottom floor, adjacent to the parking lot. It's a 10 min. walk from BART

02/11/2026

BAAM being aired on a recent piece by KRON 4 News. Thank you to Justin McDavid (Current President) and Liz Vermillion (Current Secretary and Board Member) for helping to educate our local community about mushroom foraging.

At least 40 people statewide have been hospitalized and four people killed since November, all linked to the ingestion of wild mushrooms. In the East Bay, KRON4’s Philippe Djegal hiked with mushroom enthusiasts on a recent foray. Read more here: https://www.kron4.com

02/21/2025

Reminder for this months social!

This coming Monday join us for a culinary experience in learning to prepare and cook a variety of mushrooms!

We'll also be joined by special, secret guest bringing a variety of high-quality, fresh, edible mushrooms straight from her woman owned business and production facility!

We hope to see you all there!

‼️please do not bring any pre-prepared mushroom dishes
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02/11/2025

Thanks to Exploratorium for another awesome After Dark event-- "Wondrous Fungus" indeed! Check out some of the cool mushrooms featured this year

Great to work with the folks from the Mycological Society of San Francisco again this year, as well as the UC Berkeley Myco Club
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02/06/2025

Another fun year at the Tilden Fungus Fair!! 🍄
Welcome to our new members and a big shout out and thank you to our current members who were able to volunteer—you helped make this possible! Thanks so much Tilden Nature Area, can’t wait for next year!
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