Join us for a celebration of all things fungi in Bacchus Marsh in March 2024, for the 2nd annual Moorabool Mushroom Festival! The event will be held at the Bacchus Marsh Town Hall, which is around 15 minutes walk from the train station and has parking near by. This 2 day festival will be looking at all aspects of fungi including: ecology citizen-science cultivation foraging food medicine mycoremediation mycomaterials Speakers include Dr Alison Pouliot: author of "Wild Mushrooming" and "The Allure of Fungi" Dr Sapphire McMullan-Fisher: mycologist, author of several fungi guidebooks and project lead of Fungi for Land We're lining up a bunch of new speakers as well as some old favourites: more info here https://myco.org.au/fungi-festival/ Social event There will be a dinner and social event on the Saturday night. Tickets need to be purchased separately for this (see below). Participate We are looking for stalls, volunteers, speakers and supporting organisations: Expressions of interest here http://thq.fyi/se/65b754d0cf31

This online course covers the fundamental aspects of mycology and fungal ecology. Classes will be live and recorded for people to re-watch later. Fundamentals of biology Fungal diversity and different types of fungi How to identify fungi Roles of fungi in the ecosystem including as decomposers and  How fungi interact with other organisms including relationships with plants and animals The course will run for 7 weeks and each class is around 1-1.5 hours long including Q and A. The classes will be on Thursday evenings from 6:00pm-7:30(ish)pm. Your teachers Ema Corro is a mycologist with experience in mushroom cultivation, myco-materials and ecology. She is coordinator of the Wild Fungi Project which aims to increase knowledge of Australian fungi by engaging citizen scientists in collecting and sequencing mushrooms, as well as developing environmental DNA techniques to monitor pest and endangered fungi. Ema also works for AT Mushrooms and is Mycologist Wrangler at Fungi for Land. Emily McIntyre is a graduate of a Masters of Ecosystem Management and Conservation, where her thesis explored the effect of biotic and environmental variables on soil fungi across an elevational gradient. She is currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Melbourne, where she is studying the diversity and ecology of hypogeous fungi in south-eastern Australia. Her research explores the distribution and diversity of these fungi and their mutualistic relationship with the endangered Long-Footed Potoroo. She is also currently undertaking research through MYCOmmunity's Wild Fungi DNA Project to examine the effect of storm damage on soil fungi within Wombat Forest. Emily is most interested in learning about the interactions that fungi have with plants, animals, and abiotic factors, to better understand how ecosystems function. Melvin Xu Researcher at University of Melbourne on Entomopathogenic fungi, Vice President & volunteer at MYCOmmunity and Coordinator of the Fungi Group of Field Naturalist Club Victoria. Working in Council, Landcare, and volunteer groups, begun his home propagation from his own Australian Native Terrestrial Orchids and their symbiotic fungi. With his own stock of fungi and seeds hope to develop new protocols to include fungi into local nursery and future conservation of native Orchids. Discounts Anyone who signs up for this course is entitled to discount prices on other courses in the series including: Human uses for fungi and growing fungi Fungal conservation, land management and citizen science Fungal ecology   For more info email mycommunity@myco.org.au MYCOmmunity is an NFP and all profits from these courses help keep our community lab open and fund citizen-science projects. The course will run for 8 weeks and each class is 1-1.5 hours We are running this as a separate course as we are approaching the end of the year. However anyone who signs up for this course is entitled to discount prices on other courses in the series including: Human uses for fungi and growing fungi Fungal conservation, land management and citizen science The classes will be on Thursday evenings from 6pm-7:30pm

Revegetation programs may choose to source and re-introduce a broad range of local fungi. Part of this depends on knowing your local weedy or problematic species, so that you can take care NOT to spread them. Methods discussed are suitable for nursery-raised seedlings to be planted in new or established revegetation areas. Fungi4Land and MYCOmmunity are holding an online fungal spore restoration workshop:  Using spores in native land restoration.  It will feature a discussion with some practitioners who are developing local fungal restoration techniques, outlined below: Facilitated by Ema Corro  Introduction to working fungal with spores in Australian restoration - Dr. Sapphire McMullan-Fisher Meet the spore: using Prettymouths - Oliver Spnović Considering Geographe regional plant partners fungi & bacteria - Andrew Weinert Using local Dyeballs in Pilbara mine restoration - Kelsey Eldridge The event will be held on Wednesday the 25th of October at 6:30 PM AEDT, 6:00 PM ACDT, 5:30 PM AEST, 3:30 PM AWST. Event link will be sent out on the day. Speakers Dr. Sapphire McMullan-Fisher Sapphire is an ecologist with twenty-five years experience in fungal education, conservation and land management.  Her special interest in the conservation of biodiversity, particularly the macrofungi and mosses. She has explored Australia’s many landscapes due to her involvement in many community groups across the country over the years. She particularly enjoys getting out into the bush to discover fungal treasures as often as she can. Oliver Spnović Oliver is a final year creative writing and publishing student at the University of the Sunshine Coast. After completing this academic endeavour, he intends to return to study and complete a hybrid honours course combining his love of the environment with his love for writing. He enjoys exploring his local national parks and drawing the native flora, fauna and fungi that he encounters there. Andrew Weinert  Andrew is continuing his passion of sharing practical knowledge as one of the best ways to develop the agricultural economy. With years of experience in dairy and other fermented food production systems,  microbiology,  quality assurance and industry economics.   His considerable skills and experience have lead him to working as the voluntary chair of the Geographe Community Landcare Nursery in Busselton. This nursery grows local plants and aim to grow healthier or microbiologically selective plants by considering their partners fungi and bacteria alike.  He and his collaborators are looking to isolate, and propagate local bacteria and fungi to grow more local plants better and especially in Mining and other rehabilitation areas where the local microbial populations may have been disrupted or destroyed. Kelsey Eldridge Kelsey is a final year Environmental Science student at Curtin University in Western Australia. She has been working in mine site rehabilitation in the Pilbara region for almost three years while participating in many landcare activities with local Friends groups. During this time she has become increasingly concerned about the lack of focus on fungi when it comes to restoring native vegetation and hopes to start using fungi more in restoration. Kelsey is growing tubestock Eucalyptus leucophloea and Corymbia hamersleyana which have been inoculated with a local Pisolithus fungi. These will be planted in rehabilitated mine waste dumps which have had no establishment of these crucial species from native seed spreading.     

Join us for a fungi foray and bandicoot walk! As part of the Parks Victoria Volunteering Innovation Fund, MYCOmmunity is running a public event aimed at building understanding and awareness of the importance of our unsung Australian fungi for healthy ecosystems. Despite being critical for ecosystem health and functioning, our fungi are poorly understood and often left out of ecological monitoring and citizen science. For example, many local marsupials like bandicoots depend on fungi as a source of food. In turn, such animals help to spread fungal spores which are vital mycorrhizal partners of trees. In order to better monitor and protect our ecosystems, we need to significantly build awareness and understanding of fungi. The event will take place on Saturday July 1 from 10:30am at the Adams Creek Conservation Reserve in Nyora. Participants will learn about the roles of fungi in the environment, bandicoots and their relationship to fungi, the endangered Tea Tree Fingers fungus and how to take observations to help conservation efforts using the iNaturalist app.

Join us for a fungi foray! Greg Boldiston has extensive experience in identifying mushrooms and runs regular mushroom walks in Mt Macedon. This foray will focus on identifying fungi in native forests and you will also learn to record them for conservation purposes using the iNat app. Exact location to be announced closer to the day. Please wear weather appropriate clothing and sturdy footwear. All proceeds of this foray go to support the Wild Fungi DNA project https://myco.org.au/wild-dna-project/  

This online course covers the fundamental aspects of mycology and fungal ecology. Classes will be live and recorded for people to re-watch later. Fundamentals of biology Fungal diversity and different types of fungi How to identify fungi Roles of fungi in the ecosystem including as decomposers and  How fungi interact with other organisms including relationships with plants and animals The course will run for 7 weeks and each class is around 1-1.5 hours long including Q and A. The classes will be on Thursday evenings from 6:00pm-7:30(ish)pm starting March 16. Your teachers: Ema Corro is a mycologist with experience in mushroom cultivation, myco-materials and ecology. She has a bachelor of Applied Science from RMIT and is studying her Master of Environmental Science at UNE. She is coordinator of the Wild Fungi Project which aims to increase knowledge of Australian fungi by engaging citizen scientists in collecting and sequencing mushrooms, as well as developing environmental DNA techniques to monitor pest and endangered fungi. Ema also works for AT Mushrooms and is Mycologist Wrangler at Fungi for Land. Emily McIntyre is a graduate of a Masters of Ecosystem Management and Conservation, where she examined the effect of biotic and environmental variables on soil fungi for her thesis. She is currently undertaking a PhD in fungal ecology at the University of Melbourne. She is most interested in learning about the interactions that fungi have with plants, animals, and abiotic factors, to better understand how ecosystems function. She is also currently working with MYCOmmunity to undertake research into the effect of storm damage on soil fungi within Wombat Forest. Discounts Anyone who signs up for this course is entitled to discount prices on other courses in the series including: Human uses for fungi and growing fungi Fungal conservation, land management and citizen science Fungal ecology PARTIALLY FUNDED ACFE ticket and scholarships If you are concession AND/OR a resident of Victoria, over 16, are willing to fill in a long form and provide a Medicare card as proof of residence, you may be eligible for a partially funded ticket. This option is provided through Adult Community and Further Education (ACFE). If you choose this option you will need to fill out the ACFE form before comencing. We also provide scholarships to people who can't afford the full pricce of ticket. Get in touch if you need this. For more info email mycommunity@myco.org.au MYCOmmunity is an NFP and all profits from these courses help keep our community lab open and fund citizen-science projects. The course will run for 8 weeks and each class is 1-1.5 hours We are running this as a separate course as we are approaching the end of the year. However anyone who signs up for this course is entitled to discount prices on other courses in the series (which we will run next year) including: Human uses for fungi and growing fungi Fungal conservation, land management and citizen science The classes will be on Thursday evenings from 6pm-7:30pm

Joint workshop and foray with the Haddon Community Learning Centre (in Haddon, near Ballarat). Learn to forage for edible mushrooms safely. This workshop will focus on mushrooms that grow in pine forests and plantations. Afterwards we will have an informal walk to look for mushrooms. If you want to come on the walk, please wear weather appropriate clothing and sturdy shoes and bring a basket or box to carry your mushrooms in. Tickets available here or by contacting 0406508045

Join us for a fungi foray! Greg Boldiston has extensive experience in identifying mushrooms and runs regular mushroom walks in Mt Macedon. This foray will focus on identifying fungi in native forests and you will also learn to record them for conservation purposes using the iNat app. Exact location to be announced closer to the day. Please wear weather appropriate clothing and sturdy footwear. All proceeds of this foray go to support the Wild Fungi DNA project https://myco.org.au/wild-dna-project/  

Stall at the Moorabool Mushroom Festival. Most stalls will be situated in the Mechanics Institute parking lot. People will need to supply their own marquees, tables and chairs. Stalls should fit under 1 small marquee. If you need more space please contact us. If you are an Not-For-Profit community organisation, stalls are free. Please contact us separately at mycommunity@myco.org.au Tickets to attend the indoors parts of the festival sold separately. Please do NOT sign up for this unless you have spoken to us or recieved an email from us about your EOI first. Contact mycommunity@myco.org.au for more info

*** SATURDAY TICKETS SOLD OUT SUNDAY STILL AVAILABLE: Sunday speakers include Alison Pouliot, Caine Barlow, Alistair McTaggard, Tien Huynh, Amanda Morgan, Buttons and more*** FULL PRICES Ticket Price is for entry to main talks and workshops Entry to the art exhibition and marketplace are free Join us for a celebration of all things fungi in Ballan in April 2023, for what we hope will be our first annual Moorabool Mushroom Festival! The event will be held at the Ballan Mechanics Institute, which is 5 minutes walk from the Ballan train station. Further details about ticketing and local accomodation to come. This 2 day festival will be looking at all aspects of fungi including: ecology citizen-science cultivation foraging food medicine mycoremediation mycomaterials As part of this we will have talks, workshops, nature walks, art, a social event and a market. Speakers include Dr Alison Pouliot: author of "Wild Mushrooming" and "The Allure of Fungi" Dr Sapphire McMullan-Fisher: mycologist, author of several fungi guidebooks and project lead of Fungi for Land Dr Margaret Ross: Chief Principal Investigator and Clinical Lead for Australia’s first psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy study treating depression and anxiety in the terminally ill Amanda Morgan: myco-materials expert and founder of Fungi Solutions More information about speakers, workshops and activities available here: https://myco.org.au/fungi-festival/ Social event There will be a dinner and social event on the Saturday night. Tickets need to be purchased separately for this (see below) Art exhibition The Ballan Artists Collective will be holding a fungi themed art exhibition from April 14th to 30th. For more info or to be part of the exhibition please fill in the expression of interest form and we will pass on your details http://thq.fyi/se/Fy-cmSI Organisations The festival is being organised by MYCOmmunity Applied Mycology with the support of the Moorabool Shire Council and many local and national organisations including Fungimap, Moorabool Environment Group, Geelong Field Naturalist Club, Moorabool Catchment Landcare Group, Moorabool Landcare Network, Wombat Forestcare, Wombat Regional Arts Network, Ballan Artists Collective, Australian Psychedelic Society, Fungi for Land, Fungi Solutions, Fun Fungi Ecology and Mycelium Laboratories. If your organisation would like to be part of the event please get in touch! Market stalls, speakers and art exhibition If you have previously submitted an expression of interest for speaking, arts or market stalls, apologies for the delay! We are sorting through large numbers of EOIs but will get back to everyone ASAP. If you are interested in in having a market stall, speaking or being part of the art exhibition please submit an EOI here http://thq.fyi/se/Fy-cmSI First round Early Bird tickets now open!

Please DO NOT sign up for this unless you are a confirmed speaker/presenter. This is a speaker registration page for the Moorabool Mushroom Festival. We need people's emergency contacts etc.  Each speaker is allowed to bring one friend/helper to the festival.  Speakers get free entry to the Saturday night social event and friends/helpers can get a cost-price meal.

Please DO NOT sign up for this unless you are a confirmed volunteer (email mycommunity@myco.org.au for more info) This is a volunteers registration page for the Moorabool Mushroom Festival. We need people's emergency contacts etc.