NEMF 2023 Samuel Ristich Foray — Help Needed

The Northeast Mycological Federation is busily preparing for this year’s foray that is to be held at Soyuzivka in Kerhonkson, NY September 14-17, 2023.

NEMF is a group of mushroom clubs in an area extending from Québec through New England and the Mid-Atlantic states. The sole function of the Federation is to hold an annual foray.

The Covid pandemic shut us down completely in 2020 and in 2021 we held a virtual foray. In 2022 our foray was in Jolliette, Quebec as guests of the hosting club, the Cercle des Mycologues de Montréal.

This year the hosting clubs are the Mid-Hudson Mycological Association, the Connecticut-Westchester Mycological Association and the New York Mycological Society. https://www.nemf.org/nemf-2023/nemf-2023-home/

Today I am turning to the Society for help in hosting this foray.

These are some areas of responsibility:

  1. Do you have a guest room to house a faculty member? The location should be in the Kerhonkson area.
  2. We are hosting the Friday night social, an evening meet-and-greet held after the evening program. We will be serving light prepared finger food. Drinks are provided by Soyuzivka. Any ideas for mushroomy (or not) snack items that can simply placed in bowls distributed around the room? There is no prep area so this needs to be kept extremely simple. There is funding for these provisions.
  3. We can use people to pitch in to help with the registration table during reception hours, Thursday afternoon, evening, Friday morning, Saturday morning.
  4. The foray needs emcees to introduce faculty presenting their programs Friday and Saturday, mornings and afternoons.
  5. We need Walk leaders to check foragers onto the buses and take attendance at walk’s end.
  6. The sorting and display areas require people to manage clutter, signage, materiel, and to shuttle identified collections from the sorting tables to the display room.
  7. Clean-up detail.
  8. Technical, A/V type expertise would be really helpful.
  9. And a biggie: I have volunteered to lead a beginners microscopy workshop. We will need loaner microscopes and knowledgeable people to serve as assistants. The emphasis in this class is to de-mystify the microscope for the intimidated beginner. 

Please indicate your interest in any of these chores to Paul Sadowski pabloski1@verizon.net

illustration of mushrooms

Wanted: Community Partnership Coordinator for NYMS

We’re actively recruiting for the role of Community Partnership Coordinator.

The focus of the position is to create and nourish relationships with communities and other organizations.

Just like fungi don’t exist in a vacuum, the New York Mycological Society wants to be part of a mycelium with other organizations that are focused on nature, conservation, community and education. We want our club to reflect the beautiful diversity of New York City and introduce ourselves to more New Yorkers, especially to communities that are currently under-represented in our membership.

This role was created two years ago and has been held by Sneha Ganguly, who did a fantastic job building and nourishing relationships with other organizations and organizing a series of very popular outreach and partnership events.

Sneha will be supporting the club in a different role this year (exciting news to come) and we are now looking for a new person to step into this position.

This is the perfect opportunity for a self-starting community organizer who is passionate about promoting fungal and cultural diversity and taking on a role of great responsibility within the club.

This role is supported by a scholarship!

If this sounds interesting to you, check out the full job description.

Applications are due by March 11, 2023.

​​We are committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and we strongly encourage BIPOC, LGBTQ+ individuals, and differently-abled persons to apply.

We look forward to hearing from you!

-Sigrid Jakob
President, NYMS

2023 Business Meeting

2023 Business Meeting

2023 Business Meeting

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New York Mycological Society 2023 business meeting

February 19, 2023 2pm

Draft Agenda

  1. Budget update 2022 numbers
  2. Membership summary: update on memberships
  3. 2023 walks: locations, including new
  4. ID sessions: commencing in-person ID sessions
  5. Gary Lincoff archive: update on final destination of Gary’s papers
  6. Auction: online-only auction partners for Gary’s books; other auctions?
  7. Fungus Fest: update
  8. Fungus Film Festival: proposal by Maya Han
  9. Community outreach: update on new community partnership coordinator, potential partners
  10. Lectures: update on Zoom and live lectures
  11. Website: hosting, history section, garylincoff.com
  12. Banquet and/or food events: 2023 planning
  13. Microscopy workshops: update on online workshop series, live workshop
  14. Nanopore sequencing: North East Mycoblitz; large-scale nanopore sequencing
  15. NEMF: update
  16. Scholarships: Cathy Cripps scholarship awardee? Gary Lincoff scholarship process
  17. State mushroom: update
  18. VCP research permit renewal/High Rock Park research permit:: update
  19. Hand lens program: update
  20. Newsletter: update
  21. Digitizing archive: plans?
  22. Oral history: plans?
  23. Learning how to become a more effective non-profit: update
  24. NYMS status report

Watch the full meeting here

Let’s get New York State its own state mushroom!

Two new bills for a State Mushroom for New York State – Lactarius peckii

The New York Mycological Society urges New York State residents to support State Senate Bill A1919 & State Assembly Bill S1854, which relate to designating Lactarius peckii (Peck’s Milk Cap) as New York State’s official mushroom. Why Lactarius peckii ? It plays an important symbiotic role in our hardwood forests, supplying plants with minerals in exchange for sugars, supporting healthy ecosystems. Mycorrhizal fungi like Lactarius peckii also, playing a vital role in mitigating climate change be sequestering greenhouse gases underground where they can do no damage.

Lactarius peckii 3Without mushrooms like Lactarius peckii  that partner with trees, our forests would fail to thrive. This species also shows up in the history of mycology in New York State. It was named for an Averill Park native, Charles Horton Peck, the State Museum’s botanist from 1866 through 1913. Peck described over 2700 new species of mushrooms, establishing New York state as a scientific hub mushroom research.

Lactarius peckii was first identified, described and named by the distinguished mycologist Gertrude Simmons Burlingham. Born in Oswego County, Burlingham earned a BSc in 1898 from Syracuse University, and in 1908 was the first woman to earn a PhD from a joint program between Columbia and the New York Botanical Gardens. Although she pioneered techniques to identify mushrooms, as a woman, she was unable to find paid mycological work. Burlingham continued her mycological research while teaching high school in Brooklyn NY, and discovered, named and described over 100 species.Lactarius peckii

By adopting Lactarius peckii as the official state mushroom we honor the critical role of fungi in ecosystems. Having a state mushroom encourages conversation about the significant role of science and research in New York State, including the importance of women in science. It celebrates the state’s forest resources, and commitment to fighting global warming through their preservation.

Six states have already designated a state mushroom; New York should too!

Lactarius peckii

 

To Support These Bills:

Write (email or snail-mail) and/or call your legislator in both houses. Information on how to find them and script blueprints for support of these billis via mail or phone are below for your convenience.

Generic Assembly Letter For State Mushroom

YOUR STATE ASSEMBLY PERSON – find via https://nyassembly.gov/mem/search/

Legislative Office Building
Room [###]
Albany, NY 12247
Dear Assembly Member [ NAME HERE ],

As a constituent and member of New York Mycological Society I am seeking your support for Bill A1919
Designating Lactarius peckii as the official state fungus of the state.

Passage of this bill would make New York one of only six states to have a state mushroom. Though often overlooked, mushroom are vital to the health of ecosystems and are beautiful and fascinating. We have put forward Lactarius peckii (Peck’s Milky Cap) because it is common in wooded areas throughout the state, including in the parks of the five boroughs of New York City.  The mushroom was first described by Gertrude Simmons Burlingham in 1908. A native New Yorker, Burlingham is a notable figure in North American mycology (the scientific study of mushrooms). She named this beautiful milky cap for Charles Horton Peck, who was the New York State botanist from 1867 to 1915, and described over 2700 species of North America mushrooms. Lactarius peckii is neither edible nor poisonous; it is noteworthy because it serves a vital role in maintaining healthy and vibrant forest ecosystems through its symbiotic (mycorrhizal) partnership with trees. If a milky cap mushroom like Lactarius peckii is present it means the forest is healthy.

I urge you to support Bill A1919 , and in so doing, assert New York’s appreciation of our healthy forests and parks.

[ SIGN YOUR NAME AND IF POSSIBLE ADD YOUR ADDRESS ]
If you would like to add a picture or link to one: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/87801000

If phone call – I am calling to register my support for Assembly bill A1919, designating Lactarius peckii as the official NY State mushroom. As a member of New York Mycological Society, I am committed to healthy forests and understand that this mushroom signifies good woodland health. I am hoping you will co-sponsor.

Generic Assembly Letter For State Mushroom

YOUR STATE SENATOR – find via https://www.nysenate.gov/find-my-senator

Legislative Office Building
Room [###]
Albany, NY 12247

Dear Senator [ NAME HERE ],

As a constituent and member of New York Mycological Society I am seeking your support for Bill S1854
Designating Lactarius peckii as the official state fungus of the state.

Passage of this bill would make New York one of only six states to have a state mushroom. Though often overlooked, mushroom are vital to the health of ecosystems and are beautiful and fascinating. We have put forward Lactarius peckii (Peck’s Milky Cap) because it is common in wooded areas throughout the state, including in the parks of the five boroughs of New York City.  The mushroom was first described by Gertrude Simmons Burlingham in 1908. A native New Yorker, Burlingham is a notable figure in North American mycology (the scientific study of mushrooms). She named this beautiful milky cap for Charles Horton Peck, who was the New York State botanist from 1867 to 1915, and described over 2700 species of North America mushrooms. Lactarius peckii is neither edible nor poisonous; it is noteworthy because it serves a vital role in maintaining healthy and vibrant forest ecosystems through its symbiotic (mycorrhizal) partnership with trees. If a milky cap mushroom like Lactarius peckii is present it means the forest is healthy.

I urge you to support Bill S1854 , and in so doing, assert New York’s appreciation of our great forests and parks.

[ SIGN YOUR NAME AND IF POSSIBLE ADD YOUR ADDRESS ]
If you would like to add a picture or link to one: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/87801000

If calling by phone – I am calling to register my support for Assembly bill S1854, designating Lactarius peckii as the official NY State mushroom. As a member of New York Mycological Society, I am committed to healthy forests and understand that this mushroom signifies good woodland health. I am hoping you will co-sponsor.

 

In full support and endorsement from the following organizations (in alphabetical order):

We solicited support for these bills from the following organizations (in alphabetical order):

NYMS Lectures for 2023

Here is the schedule for the 2023 Lecture Series. There are a handful of additional lectures in the works that are not listed at the moment. So be sure to check back so you don’t miss anything. Lectures are, for the most part, presented via Zoom and are either held on Thursday evenings or Sunday afternoons. If you are a member, you will receive an email that contains further details about each lecture and a link to join via zoom (where applicable).

Thursday February 16th
Rosanne Healy
The Pezizales & Their Varied Lifestyles

 
Thursday March 2nd
Donald Pfister
The Uses of Herbaria/Fungaria

 
Thursday March 30th
Shannon Adams
Cortinarius

 
Thursday April 13th
James Dalling
Seed – Fungal Relationships

 
Christian Volbracht
Sunday April 30th
Christian Volbracht
Mycological Illustration: History, Techniques, Problems

In his lecture, Christian Volbracht will give an overview of the history of illustration of fungi in printed books. He will present numerous examples of printed drawings and paintings of mushrooms from Europe, America and Asia, covering five centuries, from 1491 to the present. He will explain the various printing techniques from woodcuts to colored copper engravings to colored lithography and modern printing, describing the progress of the different illustration methods. Of particular interest are the colored copper engravings of fungi in the 18th century by Bulliard, Sowerby and Schaeffer, which are still important today as first diagnoses of new species. Volbracht will also go over problems which can arise when using the old figures of mushrooms.

Christian Volbracht is a German journalist, amateur mycologist, and author and specialist in old mushroom literature. He has worked as a news journalist for the German Press Agency dpa for more than 40 years, including ten years as head of the agency’s Paris office. Parallel to his career as a journalist, he collected mushroom books, compiled an important private library and built an online shop for antiquarian mushroom books. Eventually, he published MykoLibri, a comprehensive illustrated bibliography of his collection, covering works from the 15th to the 20th centuries. The two volumes of MykoLibri are now recognized as the standard bibliography for mycological literature – for collectors, dealers, researchers and librarians. Recently, Volbracht wrote a book on the scientific and cultural history of truffles. He lives in Hamburg, Germany.

 
Björn Wergen
Sunday, May 21st
Björn Wergen
Dung Loving Cup Fungi

Dung Loving Cup Fungi is an overview of the colorful and less known species of the order Pezizales growing on dung from various animals. Genera, species, morphology and recent taxonomy will be discussed.

Björn Wergen is founder and director of Schwarzwälder Pilzlehrschau, a mushroom school in Hornberg in the Black Forest, southern Germany. The school offers mycology courses and seminars from beginner to advanced levels. He has been studying fungi since 1994 and has a focus on morphology, taxonomy and photographic documentation. Wergen is author of the monumental Handbook of Ascomycota, Volumes 1a & 1b: Pyrenomycetes s.l. (2018).

 
Thursday June 15th
Keith Seifert
Three Microfungi that Changed the World

 

Limited edition historical t-shirts are here!

The design features an intricate drawing from the first New York Mycological Club founded in 1897. On the left are scientific tools of the field; and on the right, domestic tools of the kitchen. A skull and crossbones is front and center – perhaps a 19th century version of trolling the mycophobes.

Short sleeved tees are available in White, Black or Green. $25 (shipping included)

Short sleeved tees are available in White, Black or Green. $25 (shipping included)

Our last limited edition t-shirt sold out very quickly so order yours while supplies last!

Tom Volk, friend of the NYMS, passes.

It is with great sadness to note the passing of Tom Volk. He has been a great friend of the NYMS, delivering lectures, participating in our walks, our 100/50 celebration in 2012, and helping us memorialize Gary Lincoff in 2018.

He specialized in the polypores but served to mentor many graduate students from his teaching post in La Crosse, Wisconsin. His FoTM, Fungus of the Month site one of the earliest blogs on mycology, https://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/ stands as a great resource for the mycocurious.

I had the pleasure to study polypores with Tom at Eagle Hill, Maine. He was brilliant, generous and outré, so happy to have spent time with him.

Gary Lincoff

Gary Lincoff Book auction Sunday, December 4th 1PM

The Gary Lincoff Book Auction will be held on Sunday, December 4th at 1PM in TriBeCa, lower Manhattan, New York. Tickets are required to attend the auction and are now open to all mycophiles. Admission is $5. Proxy bidding for those who cannot attend either the live and silent auctions is available to everyone (see below).

Get your tickets here 

Tickets will not be sold at the door.

The sale will include a live auction of choice books from Gary Lincoff’s library— many of them used and annotated by Gary, some signed and inscribed by the author(s).

View the LIVE AUCTION offerings here

There will also be a silent auction of useful, collectible and valuable books, some signed by the authors, many personalized by Gary.

View the SILENT AUCTION offerings here

There will also be hundreds of VERY reasonably priced books which you can purchase at the sale in a “Buy it now” capacity. A rough list of these “Buy it now” books is here:

View the Buy It Now books here

All books have Gary’s bookplate on the inside front cover.

The live auction will begin around 2:00PM

Proxy Bids for those who cannot attend…

If you are unable to attend the sale, you are invited to submit bids in advance by email. Simply peruse both the LIVE and SILENT auction lists. Make a bid list of the items you wish to bid on, and email it to editor@newyorkmyc.org. A bid list should include the lot number, book author and title, PLUS your maximum bid for the item. If your bid is the highest, what you bid is what you pay. Winnings will be mailed via media mail. Payment for postage is the responsibility of the bidder. Submit you proxy bid lists before 9PM (Eastern) Thurs., December 1st.

Payment in person by cash, check, Venmo, Zelle and PayPal (credit card via PayPal is possible even if you don’t have an account). Payment for bids by proxy by check, PayPal, Zelle and Venmo. You will receive an invoice for your winnings after the auction.

The proceeds from the auction will fund the archiving of Gary’s voluminous papers and other materials.

Refreshments and light fare will be provided.

About Gary Lincoff
Gary not only wrote the definitive guide to North American mushrooms but spread the joy of mushrooms far and wide. He was for many decades the club’s guiding spirit and beloved informal leader. Find out more about Gary here.