| Norm has been a member of the MSSF, since 1986. A MSSF Past President and Foray Chair for 20 odd years, he has led numerous forays throughout the years to Salt Point SP, JDSF, the Sierras, Oregon, Colorado and DC. He has been chasing morels in the Sierras since the 1990 A-Rock fire to the present day. He has also hunted boletes locally, into Colorado, the east coast, and to points far north. He has an unnatural and peculiar interest in the genus Russula. Norm originally studied fungi at SF State. |  | |||
 | David Campbell has been collecting, studying, eating, teaching, and writing about wild mushrooms for 50 years. An expert mycophagist (one who safely eats a wide variety of wild mushrooms) and experienced outdoor group leader, he served more than a decade on the Mycological Society of San Francisco Council, including two terms as president. He is also past president of the Mycological Society of Marin County. | |||
| He remains active with the San Francisco Poison Control Center for mushroom poisoning incident response throughout the Bay Area. With a primary focus on edible and poisonous mushrooms, David has led innumerable fungal forays, taught basic mycology and wild mushroom seminars, and provided educational presentations and adventures for numerous CA mushroom clubs along with the annual Napa Truffle Festival in Napa, CA. Beyond the US, | ||||
| David’s international tour company, Mycoventures, offers gourmet mushroom, truffle, and wine tours to Northern Italy and Croatia. Contact info@mycoventures.com to learn more about their upcoming fungal and food events | ||||
| Ken is one of the prime pioneers, educators, and influencers in Northern California Mycology over the past 30 years. During this time, he led a team of mushroom cultivation enthusiasts to create a mushroom garden at SF's Randall Museum and at the Presidio National Park. Ken taught the first fully accredited and transferable"Mushroom Cultivation" course in the country at Merritt College in Oakland. During that time, he Co-chaired the MSSF Fungus Fair. At Mendo Camp, Ken also leads the Saturday night MycoMendoMondo event. |  |
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Brennan Wenck is a Faculty Lecturer in biology at San Francisco State University. In the summer, he teaches a night photography class at the SF State Sierra Nevada Field Campus. Brennan is the Chair of the MSSF Scholarship Committee and is a Past President of MSSF.
For more info about Brennan’s photography: Instagram: @brennanwenck |
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| Brian Perry is a Professor of Biology at California State University East Bay, and Director of the HAY Fungarium. He received his Master's Degree from San Francisco State University under the guidance of Dr. Dennis E. Desjardin, and his Ph.D. from Harvard University where he studied with Dr. Donald H. Pfister. |  | |||
| Brian has been studying fungi since 1995, and has published over 45 papers in scientific journals. In addition to studying the evolution of fungal bioluminescence, he also conducts research on mushrooms and other fungi of Vanuatu, the assembly and biogeography of island fungal communities, endophytic fungi, and the systematics of Mycena and allied genera.
Brian teaches several mycology courses at Cal State East Bay and the Sierra Nevada Field Campus. |
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J.R.Blair received his Bachelor’s degree at the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington and obtained his Master’s degree at San Francisco State University in 1999 studying with the accomplished mycologist, Dr. Dennis Desjardin.
His thesis was Fungi Associated with Arctostaphylos in Northern California. Since that time, he has been an active member of the Mycological Society of San Francisco. He served a two-year term as President and was their Fungus Fair chairperson for five years. He has taught mushroom identification workshops for mycological societies and outdoor education programs for many years. He was a lecturer of biology at SFSU for 21 years until his retirement in 2020 and was the director of the Sierra Nevada Field Campus for a dozen years. |
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It began in the mid 1970's. Gregg was shown where to find and how to cook Chanterelles. Shortly after that came the same with Morels. Then a year in southern Michigan on a biological research reserve identifying mushrooms using the first edition of David Arora's Mushroom Demystified. Back in California for several El Nino years and massive fungal fruitings in the early 1980's. Through the encouragement of Larry Stickney, Gregg began sharing his enthusiasm and knowledge with others by leading mushroom forays for the Mycological Society of San Francisco (MSSF). Then a stint in Southern California, where he led forays at several Nature Reserves. Back in Northern California he has continued enthusiastically sharing his knowledge of fungi by leading forays at Point Reyes, Salt Point State Park and in the Sierras for both the Mycological Society of San Francisco (MSSF) and the Sonoma County Mycological Association (SOMA). Gregg thoroughly enjoys sharing what he has learned about fungi with others while ambling through forest and field. |
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Brian has been hunting mushrooms for most of his life. From a young age he learned to identify various springtime Sierran mushrooms, most importantly the sought after morel!
Later in life he migrated to the Bay Area where he spends much of the fall and winter traversing the local forests in search of a wide variety of edible and extraordinary mushrooms. Brian has assisted in leading guided forays through the Bay Area and Coastal California forests with LandPaths, MSSF, SOMA, as well as private forays in the Sierras. For many years Brian has helped eager foragers fill their baskets with a wide variety of mushrooms. |
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| As a child, I used to pick chanterelles and berries in the forest. When I moved to the Bay Area in 1997, I had no idea California had so many different mushrooms. When I joined the Mycological Society, I participated in many forays, fairs, and events and learned so much. I was blown away by all the edibles you can find within a few hours' drive from San Francisco. I got to hunt Salt Point, the Sierras, and the Jackson Demonstration Forest together with the club. After learning how to find chanterelles, yellowfoot, black trumpets, hedgehogs, porcini, princes, lobsters, candy caps, morels, and matsutake, mushroom hunting has become an obsession of mine. I devote one day a week to foraging during the season. I often hunt with my daughters and friends. |  |
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| Jenna Hinshaw is a professional forager born and raised on the Mendocino Coast. She has been picking wild mushrooms for over 30 years. She's also an artist who works in various mediums, including painting mushrooms on dried conks. Jenna recently launched Forage Mendocino, an events and education company emphasizing sustainable, ethical foraging practices. Forage Mendocino's flagship event will be a Mushroom Symposium and Forager's Market December 8th-10th at the Little River Inn. | ||||
| Jenna grew up foraging and exploring the Mendocino Redwoods. A wild child from birth, as a kid, Jenna's mom didn't have to tell her twice to "go outside, it's a beautiful day"; more often than not, she had to holler for Jenna to come back inside. An autodidact, Jenna learns best using a hands-on approach—most of her knowledge, identification skills, and foraging techniques she has earned through firsthand experience. In 2022, Jenna found a blue chanterelle on the Mendocino Coast. It turned out to be the only one ever documented in California and will be added to the California list of fungi! | 
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| You can check out Foragemendocino.com and Visitmendocino.com for information about Jenna's upcoming events. | ||||
| Instagram: @jennahinshaw | ||||
| Inaturalist: @jennahinshaw | ||||
| After learning the basics in France from my family, hunting for mushrooms has become my favorite hobby after moving to California in 1994. I focus on finding edible mushrooms but am curious about everything related to mycology. An active MSSF member since 2006, I have helped the society with the website, as social media chair, newsletter chair, leading forays and now as MSSF Treasurer. |  |
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