Malcolm Saunders’ presentation at Fungi Feast at The Park provided an illuminating look into 9 common edible and medicinal mushrooms that every mushroom enthusiast should be familiar with. Malcolm Saunders is the owner, founder, and creative visionary of Light Cellar, as well as the lead instructor and master forager, maker, and formulator for many of their items made in-house.

Alfredo Justo’s presentation at the 2025 Great Alberta Mushroom Foray provided an illuminating look into the large genus of Pluteus mushrooms in North America. Grab your favourite snacks and enjoy!

Paul Kroeger’s presentation at the 2025 Great Alberta Mushroom Foray provided an illuminating look into the occurrence of Deathcap mushrooms in North America. Grab your favourite snacks and enjoy!

Danny Miller’s presentation at the 2025 Great Alberta Mushroom Foray provided an illuminating look into working with DNA to better understand fungal organisms. Grab your favourite snacks and enjoy!

Michael W. Beug PhD is a long-time friend of the Alberta Mycological Society. He has been giving presentations on mushrooms for decades and is renowned as an international expert. We are very lucky to have him to give this presentation packed densely with important information — we hope you enjoy!

The AMS Culinary Team is always looking for volunteers! If you’re interested in joining, leave a comment on this video or reach out to us on our website.

Cindy Prescott is a Professor Emerita in Forestry at the University of British Columbia. Today, we are lucky to have her join us and give a presentation on managing forests for the below-ground ecosystem!

Martin Osis, the current secretary of the Alberta Mycological Society, gives a presentation all about Leccinum.

Danny Miller’s presentation at the 2025 Alberta Mycological Society AGM provided an illuminating look into the secret history of mushrooms. Grab your favourite snacks and enjoy!

Karen Slevinsky, a past president of the Alberta Mycological Society, gives a presentation at the Kule Folklore Centre. This talk is concerned with finding mushrooms in Alberta.

Hanna Davidson joined us for a virtual presentation to talk about using iNaturalist for collecting mycological data. If you’re looking to contribute as a citizen scientist, this is a great tool to use.

The Wild Mushroom Expo is an annual event held in Alberta presented by the Alberta Mycological Society. Mushrooms from across the province are gathered to be displayed on moss beds, cooked as samples by a local chef, and used as inspiration for our local creatives to sculpt, paint, and shape for our art contest! There are displays for medicinal, edible, and poisonous fungi, as well as informative displays for those interested in growing their own fungi! Educational presentations occurred throughout the day, as well as guided mushroom walks for those interested in seeing what one of our forays is like! New this year, local vendors sold their wares in our Market space. The Wild Mushroom Expo is an excellent opportunity to discover the amazing variety that Alberta offers! Videography & editing by Jeff Nash, @_jeffnash on twitter & IG.

Andy MacKinnon, co-author of Mushrooms of British Columbia, presented at our 2023 Annual General Meeting an engaging, insightful, and humorous presentation. Here are a few clips compiled from his wonderful presentation! Magic mushrooms have been employed in spiritual practices in Mexico and Central America for millennia. The visionary powers of these mushrooms first became known to the world in 1957 and in the early 1960s, they sparked a social and cultural “psychedelic revolution” soon dominated by lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). The discovery that magic mushrooms grew commonly and abundantly in the Pacific Northwest and in British Columbia (BC) helped make Canada’s westernmost province a focal point of social change. Recent advances show promise for carefully monitored treatment of some psychological disorders, see for example Canadian Nurse July 2020 Magic mushrooms and the future of mental health care. This presentation will explore the natural history of BC’s magic mushrooms and their role in the rapidly changing counter culture of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and up to the present day.

At the Alberta Mycological Society’s Annual General Meeting on March 18, 2023, Mike Schulz, AMS Vice President, announced a huge milestone success in Canada’s Wild Species Report. A few short clips of his presentation have been compiled with some of the highlights.

On November 10, 2022, Stephen Russell joined us for a virtual presentation to talk about DNA sequencing. Russell is a mycologist from Indiana working on a biodiversity survey of all of the macrofungi (mushrooms) that occur in the state. He founded The Hoosier Mushroom Society in 2009 and is currently the President of the organization. His initial interest in mushrooms began with cultivation, which led to writing a book titled The Essential Guide to Cultivating Mushrooms (Storey Publishing, 2014). Stephen’s current project is a citizen science and DNA based exploration of local fungal biodiversity, which has now generated thousands of new DNA-sequenced collections of fungal fruitbodies from across the state – amassing records for over 2,000 unique species.

Orion Aon joined the AMS for a phenomenal presentation and talk on November 6, 2022, to share his journey with mushroom hunting in the Southern Rockies. We have tremendous appreciation for the outdoors, especially the wild edible mushrooms and plants we can find in the mountains, the natural areas around us, and our own backyard! In this presentation, Orion talks about the best way to start foraging, valuable lessons and experiences he’s learned, important foraging safety information, and other tips and tricks of the forager’s trade. Orion Aon is an avid outdoorsman with a passion for all things wild food! He was born and raised in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he became interested in mushroom hunting at a young age. He moved to Fort Collins, Colorado in 2008 to study Natural Resource Management and Fisheries Biology at Colorado State University, choices that were shaped by his passion for the outdoors! In 2015, Orion started Forage Colorado where he shares his passion for edible wild plants and mushrooms, writes and creates educational content, and offers private foraging classes. Check out Forage Colorado for more information.

Martin Osis is an amateur mycologist and one of the earliest members of the AMS, being involved for 30+ years. Since that time, he has been a major contributor to the Society, holding various positions throughout the years, including President, Program Director, and Foray Coordinator. During our Great Alberta Mushroom Forays, Martin delivers an Introduction to Mushroom Identification course to help beginner mushroom enthusiasts hit the ground running successfully. In this video, Martin speaks about common mushrooms that you’ll find in Alberta in the Spring and their key identifying characteristics.

Presented by Michael J. Schulz, M.Sc., P.Biol., E.P. With a Master’s degree studying fungal ecology from the University of Alberta (U of A) and a B.Sc. degree from Trinity Western University, Michael is actively involved in the AMS. He has performed mushroom identification contracts and courses for the Government of Alberta, the U of A Botanic Gardens, hospitals, and numerous other organizations and individuals since 2002. In 2017, Environment and Climate Change Canada contracted Michael to research and assign conservation ranks for the macrofungi of Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan, as part of the 2020 Wild Species Report. Michael’s professional focus is in the area of plants, including rare plant surveys, plant and lichen identifications, and wetland and ecosystem mapping. Since 2009, Michael instructs in the Natural Resources Technology program at Portage College in Lac La Biche, developing and teaching courses such as Field Botany, Water and Wetlands, and Ecosystem Classification and Mapping, just to name a few.

Sean A. Campbell is the founder and current director of LeShroomery Inc., a fungus-based start up located in Calgary. Sean grew up on a fungus farm located just outside Bradwell, Saskatchewan. The family-owned company, GNC Bioferm, is best described as a biotechnology company that harnesses fungus for enzyme production. Sean’s official education falls in the categories of experimental architecture and computational design. After completing a Masters of Architecture at the University of Calgary, Sean pursued a Masters of Science at the University of Stuttgart. The focus of this degree was computational design, digital fabrication and integrative technology. Sean’s research focus in stuttgart was fungus-based building materials. This research was presented at the eCAADe Regional International Symposium ( June 2017 ), in a paper entitled, “Modular Mycelia: Scaling Fungal Growth for Architectural Assembly.”

Mushrooms are fascinating and incredibly important for our ecosystem. The Alberta Mycological Society (AMS) presents this fun video for making mushroom origami! Check out our website: www.albertamushrooms.ca to learn more about mushrooms, fungi, our society, and the events we hold in Alberta. Mush thanks to AMS member, Mel Hohn, for this great video!

Martin Osis is a past president of the Alberta Mycological Society. In this video, he’s exploring areas in Edmonton and talking about some mushrooms commonly found in this region, including medicinal and edible mushrooms!

Original presentation given Nov 27, 2021.

Original presentation given Nov 27, 2021.

Original presentation given Nov 27, 2021.

Original presentation given Nov 27, 2021.

Original presentation given Nov 27, 2021.

Original presentation given September 3 – 6, 2021.

Original presentation given September 3 – 6, 2021.

Psilocybin Mushrooms: The Magic, Science and Research by Robert Rogers

The history of magic mushrooms from ancient civilizations up to the present. Includes the resurgence in human clinical trials for anxiety, depression, PTSD, OCD and other mental health concerns. Original presentation given October 26, 2021.

Dr. Jill Hagel gives a presentation to members of the AMS and Nature Alberta about the occurrence, biosynthesis, pharmacology, and biotechnology of psychedelics in fungi and plants. Original presentation given May 1, 2021.