Beginning Mushroom Identification Workshop

Saturday August 22, 9 am - 4 pm.
Please join mycologist, Sue Van Hook, for a hands-on day in the field collecting fungi, making spore prints, and learning stature types for easy identification of the common edible and medicinal fungi. In the morning we will be introduced to how to collect mushrooms while we foray at Pompanuck Farm and the surrounding State Forest. Over lunch Sue will teach the major groups of fungi and we'll spend the afternoon practicing identification on our collections. Please bring any mushrooms or fungi from home, a collecting basket, a dull knife or garden trowel, waxed paper, a bag lunch, water and any sunscreen or repellents you desire. Please wear long pants and long-sleeved shirts for tick protection. Cost is $25

Sue Van Hook can most often be found on hands and knees in search of fungi in Skidmore's North Woods. She engages students in various mycoremediation projects as part of the first year biology majors course. Using fungal mycelium she and students have worked to restore segments of trail and degrade stable waste. She collaborates with researchers at RPI in Troy, NY growing fungi for "green" products. In 2007, Sue produced Treasures in the North Woods: a guide to the natural campus at Skidmore College in collaboration with students, staff and faculty spouses. As a Senior Teaching Associate, she currently teaches laboratories for Unity of Life (BI 105) and Diversity of Life (BI 106). She chairs the Campus Environment Committee, working on campus sustainability and stewardship of the North Woods.
Sue earned her M.A. in Biology and B.A. in Botany and French from Humboldt State University in Arcata, California. She worked as a naturalist and preserve manager for the Nature Conservancy in northern California and as Stewardship Director for the Maine Coast Heritage Trust before coming to Skidmore in 1992.