Book Passage Presents

Tues., July 20, 2021 • 5:30pm PT • Live • Online

In conversation with Maya Elson

From ecology to fermentation, in pop culture and in medicine—mushrooms are everywhere. With an explorer's eye, author Doug Bierend guides readers through the weird, wonderful world of fungi and the amazing mycological movement.

In Search of Mycotopia introduces us to an incredible, essential, and oft-overlooked kingdom of life—fungi—and all the potential it holds for our future, through the work and research being done by an unforgettable community of mushroom-mad citizen scientists and microbe devotees. This entertaining and mind-expanding book will captivate readers who are curious about the hidden worlds and networks that make up our planet.

Bierend uncovers a vanguard of mycologists; growers, independent researchers, ecologists, entrepreneurs, and amateur enthusiasts exploring and advocating for fungi's capacity to improve and heal. From decontaminating landscapes and waterways to achieving food security, In Search of Mycotopia demonstrates how humans can work with fungi to better live with nature—and with one another.

Doug Bierend is a freelance journalist writing about science and technology, food, and education, and the various ways they point to a more equitable and sustainable world. His byline appears in Wired, The Atlantic, Vice, Motherboard, The Counter, Outside Magazine, Civil Eats, and numerous other publications.

Maya Elson is a teacher, naturalist, mycologist, organizer, and lover of the wild. Maya has been Executive Director of CoRenewal since 2016, where she is dedicated to enacting effective and just solutions to environmental and social crises by working in collaboration with fungi. She is the co-founder and Program Coordinator of the Post Fire Biofiltration Initiative, an effort and experiment using fungi to prevent toxins from burned materials from entering waterways. Maya is one of the founding members of the Radical Mycology network, and has started Applied Mycology groups in Olympia, WA and the San Francisco Bay Area. She’s worked as a campaign organizer with a number of climate justice and wilderness defense struggles over many years. Maya is the founder and former Program Coordinator of Wild Child Santa Cruz, a nature immersion program for homeschoolers. She holds a Graduate Certificate in Ecopsychology, and weaves together human and ecological remediation through her work teaching Mycopermaculture, Fungal Biology, Mycorenewal, and Mushroom Identification for both adults and children. She also leads mushroom hunts with ForageSF, and rites of passage programs with Gaia Girls Passages, while raising an enchanted child.

Doug Bierend photo by Alanna Burns