Lectures
Travis Tyler Fluck
"Journey Out of the Cave: Navigating the Mysteries of Mystical Experience"
A retelling of Plato's Allegory.
Travis Tyler Fluck is an educator, death doula, activist, cultivator, and empathetic witness. He serves his communities as a steward & facilitator as a leader for the Denver Psilocybin Initiative and co-founder of the Denver Mushroom Cooperative The Medicine Path has afforded Travis resolution to existential dilemmas as well as the means to help others heal and tap into true potential. Travis won the Oakland Hyphae Lab's Fall '21 & '22 Cups for Psilocybe Cultivation, the first organization to include objective testing.
As a casualty of the drug war, Travis' life has been peppered with traumatic arrests and periods of incarceration. Fortunately, over the years, Travis has gained the tools and the platform to influence systemic change and work towards a ceasefire to the drug war.
He looks forward to offering his insight and experience to better the world we live in!
Mushroom Common Scents, Just for the Smell Of It
Walt Sturgeon is a field mycologist with over 40 years of experience studying and identifying mushrooms. His photos of mushroom and fungi, some award-winning, can be
seen in numerous mushroom field guide publications, three of which he co-authored: Waxcap Mushrooms of Eastern North America, University of Syracuse Press, 2012;
Mushrooms and Macrofungi of Ohio and the Midwestern States, Ohio State University, 2013.,and Mushrooms of the Northeast, Adventure-Keen Press. He has also written Appalachian Mushrooms, Ohio University Press, 2018, He was a Contributing Author to the Encyclopedia
of Appalachia, University of Tennessee Press. Walt has received the North American Mycological Association (NAMA) Award for Contributions to Amateur Mycology, and Northeast (North America) Mycological Federation (NEMF) Eximia Award, both for contributions to the advancement of amateur mycology. He is the past president of the Ohio Mushroom Society and has associations with many other mycological organizations. Walt is married to Trish. He has two children and two grandchildren. He lives in East
Palestine, Ohio and is a retired social worker.
Sporin'Around with Amanita Muscaria
by Cara Monigold.
What do we already know about this "mysterious" mushroom? How best may we be informed about them?
Research, documented historical use, anecdotal + empirical evidence...we will be discussing information that has been gathered through these various lenses. Leading to a discussion about harm reduction, their current legal status + predictions of that status in the very near future.
Cara will also be talking about the varied ways in which to prepare their medicine + how best to utilize their ancient organic technology based on individual need.
“Pawpaw Wizard Presents, Hunting the Hillbilly Mango: Foraging in the Mixed Mesophytic Forest”
Until I was 6 I lived in a farm house between cows and corn fields. After that I spent much of my youth playing make believe in the woods in my suburban back yard. Living things all around me have always captivated my imagination. As I got older I moved to the city. I reconnected to natures rhythm by eating local seasonal foods. Met lots of farmers and growers at my local market who had passion for what they were doing.
I had to look more closely but I never left nature even in the heart of the city. I learned the names of the weeds and trees who grew at the slightest opportunity in my urban environment. I tracked the passage of the year by the goings on of flowers and fruits that grew abundantly. In 2010 I started cultivating fungi with a desire to have a consistent supply of gourmet and medicinal mushrooms that weren’t locally available. Now I am a humble servant of the fungi.
For The Love of Mushrooms; Citizen Science for the Mycophile
Alisha Millican, is a fungi enthusiast who grew up right here in North East Ohio. She fosters a lifelong interest in the natural world and has always felt most at home in the forest. She is the President of the Alabama Mushroom Society, has the pleasure of serving on the executive board of the North American Mycological Association where she also serves on the Vouchering Committee, DNA Sequencing Committee and Nominating Committee, and she is a Volunteer Coordinator for the Fungal Diversity Survey where she is spearheading the Southeast Rare Fungi Challenge. She is passionate about sharing her enthusiasm for fungi and Citizen Science, and is particularly interested in documenting and sequencing fungi for the future of conservation. She lives in Alabama with her husband and two young children.
John Plischke
John Plischke III is a founding member and identifying mushroom expert for the Western Pennsylvania Mushroom Club, he has been awarded the club’s Distinguished Service Award.
He is a life member of the North American Mycological Association (NAMA) and NAMA has awarded John the prestigious Harry and Elsie Knighton Award and The Gary Lincoff Award for Contributions to Amateur Mycology. He has also presented programs to many NAMA affiliated mushroom clubs.
He is the editor of two WPMC wild mushroom cookbooks. John is the author of Morel Mushrooms and Their Poisonous Look A Likes and Good Mushroom, Bad Mushroom. He has also contributed to over a 16 other mushroom books.
John has won over 85 national and regional awards for his mushroom photography. He is also past chairman of the Fungus Section of the PA Biological Survey. He has given scores mushroom programs from the East coast to the West coast and across Canada.
John is often away from home giving mushroom talks and identifying mushrooms for many different groups and has identified over 500,000 mushroom observations for others on iNaturalist which he enjoys doing. He has over 2600 different species of mushrooms posted on iNaturalist. He enjoys collecting and DNA sequencing.
Discover the healing Powers of Plant Spirits: A Holistic Approach to Wellness
Jim Sayer's work as an Herbalist blossomed from his own experience with chronic illness in his family and how conventional medicine failed them miserably. Jim has been studying Herbalism for over twenty years leading to his development of The Herbal Ally Way through his passion for true spiritual allyship with the Herbs themselves. Jim is the owner of the House of Life Botanicals as well as the Coordinator for the Herbal Allies Chapter of the Herbalist’s Without Borders-Youngstown, OH. In addition to Jim's herbal studies, he holds a Bachelor of Science in Alternative Medicine with two years of Nutrition education, Certified as a Nutritional Consultant and many other continuing education credits and certifications related to his field. With that said, he is not a doctor, nor a licensed professional of any kind. These sessions are for informational purposes only and are not intended to diagnose or treat any disease. You are encouraged to speak with your healthcare provider about all herbal products, dietary changes, or supplements you choose to use.