SVIMS: The Next Generation (2026)

by SVIMS speakers

Speaker 1:

Grey Wolfgang Mueller

Dyeing with Local Mushrooms

Grey was born in Nelson, BC. He spent his early years living a very rural life on a land co-op in the forest, where he enjoyed gardening, beekeeping, foraging, and raising chickens. When he was five years old, he moved to Victoria. Since then, he has continued his love of nature through rock hounding, gardening, beach clean-ups, camping, nature crafts, and, most recently, getting involved in SVIMS.

His earliest memory of being interested in mushrooms was in grade two, when he created spore prints as art and shared his discoveries with his classmates.

Grey is now in grade nine at the Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry, a high school based on a student-led inquiry process.

This past summer at the Saanich Fair, he discovered that mushrooms can be used for dyeing while visiting the Victoria Weavers’ Guild tent. Since then, he has been experimenting with creating dyes from mushrooms.

He will share what he has learned about preparing dyes using three different local mushrooms. He will also talk about how different fabrics and mordants can affect color. Grey will bring samples of his work, including clothes he has made, and will share resources for others who want to explore the world of mushroom dyeing.

Speaker 2: 

Dana Nygard

Knowledge through Nature Journaling and the Mycology of Southern Vancouver 

In this presentation, Dana Nygard invites you to slow down and rediscover the natural world through the lens of nature journaling and the fascinating mycology of Southern Vancouver Island. By observing not only the mushrooms themselves, but also the interconnected ecosystems they inhabit — from trees and lichen to mosses and forest microhabitats — Dana explores how art and curiosity can deepen our ecological awareness.

She will share insights from her ongoing practice of field sketching and journaling, emphasizing the value of noting key identifying features of fungi, foraging wild foods responsibly, and experimenting with spore printing, mushroom-based dyes and inks. This mindful approach to art and observation celebrates the creativity and wonder that emerge when we engage closely with nature.

Speaker #3

Teresa Klemm

Mushroaming in Bhutan

Join Teresa on a journey to the Kingdom of Bhutan to explore the wonderful world of mushroaming: a blend of mushroom foraging, ecology, and cultural discovery.

 Teresa began photographing mushrooms over 30 years ago. Her very first subject was a ghost pipe (Monotropa uniflora)—a striking find, though she later discovered it wasn’t a mushroom at all, but a plant. That moment taught her to be humble and sparked a lifelong curiosity about the fungal world.

Since then, her interests have grown to include culinary mushrooms and species identification. Over the years, she has spent time learning from fellow enthusiasts at SVIMS, gaining new knowledge with every season. A dedicated member since 2003, Teresa continues to explore the fascinating, ever-surprising world of fungi with camera in hand and curiosity intact.

Andrew Claassen Presentation on March 5, 2026

by SVIMS speakers

The next SVIMS meeting.
Pacific Forestry Centre,
March 5, 7:00 pm (doors open at 6:30 pm)

Andrew Claassen is a mycologist, naturalist, forest ecologist, educator, musician, and public speaker based in Northern California. Claassen is known for his expertise in identifying and studying California mushrooms. He has contributed significantly to understanding North American fungal species through documenting, collecting, discovering, and researching mushrooms in the region’s diverse habitats, particularly through work on montane and coastal wetland habitats.

He is a co-founder and vice president of the Mount Shasta Mycological Society and was formerly a collection specialist for the FunDis (North American Fungal Diversity Survey) California Project. He is now is operating as a collection specialist for Mycota Lab and Shasta Spore Lab.

Claassen maintains an active presence in the mycological community through the iNaturalist and social media platforms where he shares his work.

Talk Description: Join mycologist Andrew Claassen for an in-depth exploration of one of mycology’s most fascinating frontiers: the specialized fungi that inhabit water-scarce and transitional moisture environments. This presentation delves into the remarkable world of seeps, springs, meadows, and bogs, where unique fungal communities have evolved extraordinary adaptations to survive in conditions that challenge conventional understanding of fungal habitat requirements. This presentation offers both experienced foragers and research focused mycologists an opportunity to expand their understanding of habitat ecology, trophic cycling, substrate chemistry, mycorrhizal networks, and the effect of specialized fungi on ecosystem health.

Monthly Meeting October 2, 2025

by SVIMS speakers

Pacific Forestry Centre
506 Burnside Road West
Victoria BC  V8Z 4N9

Doors open at 6:30pm to socialize and identify mushrooms.

Noah Siegel

 will share with us

Adventures of a Mycohobo

 

Noah is one of North America’s foremost field mycologists; he has spent over three decades seeking, photographing, identifying, and furthering his knowledge about all aspects of macrofungi. He travels and lectures extensively across America, following the mushrooms from coast to coast.         

Noah was the recipient of the 2022 North American Mycological Association’s Award for Contributions to Amateur Mycology. His primary research interest is on the taxonomy and systematics of fungi.         

He authored, along with Christian Schwarz, Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast, a Comprehensive Guide to the Fungi of Coastal Northern California and Mushrooms of Cascadia, a Comprehensive Guide to Fungi of the Pacific Northwest, as well as co-authoring A Field Guide to the Rare Fungi of California’s National Forests. He is currently working on Mushrooms of Alaska, with Steve Trudell and Kate Mohatt.

Monthly Meeting April 3, 2025

by SVIMS speakers

7 pm – doors open
7:15-7:30 – meeting begins
3821 Cedar Hill X Rd, Victoria BC

Presentation by Karen Golinski
Collections Curator, Bryophytes, Lichens and Fungi

Fungal collections at the UBC Herbarium: Overview and recent developments

Karen Golinski is a bryologist and Collections Curator of the Bryophyte, Lichen and Fungi collections at the University of British Columbia Herbarium. She earned her PhD from the University of Victoria. Prior to beginning her current position at UBC in 2020, she worked on the US Herbarium bryophyte collection in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. Karen has a strong interest in bryophyte biodiversity and conservation, and served on the Mosses and Lichens subcommittee of COSEWIC (Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada) for many years. Currently she is a member of the IUCN SSC Bryophytes Specialist group.

The UBC Herbarium in the Beaty Biodiversity Museum holds more than 91 thousand accessioned dried fungus and lichen specimens, serving as a key resource for fungal and lichenological research, university education and public outreach. The two collections, which emphasize B.C. specimens, are housed in 90 specially-designed cabinets in a unique, publicly-accessible space. Specimen cabinets are punctuated by stunning displays, including shadowboxes illustrating a species of Cortinarius named for Oluna Ceska, and an artful presentation of the Sherman Brough lichen-dyed wool collection.

UBC is part of a global effort to increase the visibility and usability of herbarium collections by making data and images available online through publicly-accessible data portals. We deeply appreciate the pioneering efforts of Dr. R.F. Scagel, who initiated the process of recording UBC specimen metadata in 1981. With the assistance of student and community volunteers, we have made substantial progress in processing a large backlog of specimens. Soon, with the help from mycological community members, we will start uniting specimen records with images from the Mushroom Observer and other sources to further facilitate biodiversity discovery and appreciation.

SVIMS Meeting December 5, 2024 Kem Luther & Andy MacKinnon

by SVIMS speakers

7pm – doors open
7:15-30pm – presentation begins

St Luke’s Hall
Victoria – 3821 Cedar Hill X Rd, Victoria, BC

  • Monthly Membership Meeting
  • Live streamed/hybrid – members will receive zoom link by email
  • Bring mushrooms to be identified by local experts
  • Snacks, tea, socialize!

Presentation:

“Fairies and Fungi: A Festive Ecology of BC”

Kem Luther & Andy MacKinnon

It’s December, and Andy and Kem are ready to put you in the holiday spirit!  Find out what makes Santa’s reindeer fly, how frost makes beards, where tipsy fairies toss their cookies, and how to escape from the fatal fairy ring.

Andy MacKinnon. Andy’s recent research interests include ecology of BC’s ectomycorrhizal fungal species. He was lead BC scientist for Environment Canada’s 2017 ranking of the province’s threatened and endangered fungal species. Andy has taught rainforest ecology field courses in Bamfield and Tofino (for the University of Victoria) and Haida Gwaii (for UBC). He has also taught mushroom identification courses in Tofino (for the Rainforest Education Society) and in Victoria. He is co-author of six best-selling books about plants of western North America and co-author of the Royal BC Museum Handbook Mushrooms of British Columbia. He is past-president of the South Vancouver Island Mycological Society (SVIMS).

Kem Luther. Kem is a naturalist and writer. He grew up in the Nebraska Sandhills, studied at Cornell, the University of Chicago, and the University of Toronto, and taught at Eastern Mennonite University, Sheridan College, York University, and the University of Toronto. When he moved from a home on Ontario’s Grand River to the southern tip of Vancouver Island in 2004, he developed an abiding passion to know the mushrooms of western North America. Besides Mushrooms of British Columbia, Kem is the author of six books, including Boundary Layer (Oregon State University Press, 2016). He has been secretary and speaker coordinator for the South Vancouver Island Mycological Society (SVIMS).

Kem and Andy, who both live in Metchosin, BC, are cofounders of the Metchosin Biodiversity Project (metchosinbiodiversity.com). They are enthusiastic participants, speakers, and field trip leaders for various mushroom festivals in southwestern BC each autumn.