Mai Lovaas was born and raised in Norway and has lived in California for many years. She began studying plants and mushrooms in 2012 while attending the Berkeley Herbal Center, later incorporating her passion for fungi into her MSc in Global Health at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim.
For her master’s she did fieldwork in Zambia and wrote her thesis Experiences of Female Mushroom Hunters in Zambian Mambo Woodlands: Food, Medicine, Livelihoods and Environmental Change. Through The Norwegian Association for Mycology and Foraging, Mai became a certified mushroom identification expert. During the fall season, she can often be found at mushroom identification stations across Norway, helping foragers distinguish between edible and poisonous species.
The Forest Sings Back: Fungal Conservation and Women’s Knowledge in Africa
This talk explores fungal conservation in Africa, with a focus on Zambia’s miombo woodlands where mushrooms are much more than food — they are medicine, stories, and a source of livelihood. Women play a central role as gatherers and keepers of fungal knowledge, passing on traditions that connect families to forests through song, teaching, and everyday survival. Yet these traditions face growing threats from deforestation, charcoal production, and mining, which endanger both biodiversity and cultural heritage.
The Mycological Society of San Francisco has been hosting 1 or 2 Fungus Fairs each year since 1969. Fairs have been held in San Francisco County, Alameda County, San Mateo County, and Marin County. Historical information is available about previous Fungus Fairs: