Observing, identifying and documenting New York City's surprising diversity of mushrooms all year round is at the heart of what we do. Our programming also includes ID meetings, lectures, workshops, cultural and culinary events.
We're an all-volunteer organization and welcome everyone with a love of fungi, regardless of their level of knowledge or area of interest.
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Reasons to join the New York Mycological Society
1
Walks
The club goes on mushroom walks almost every weekend of the year, rain or shine. There are two kinds of walks:
- Pop-up walks (November to end of June): exact dates and locations are decided just a few days beforehand.
- Scheduled walks (early July to end of October): dates/locations are publicized well in advance.
2
ID Meetings
We have Zoom ID meetings and in person gathering alternating every Monday evening at 18:30. Invites with a link get sent out every Saturday. Everyone is invited to these meetings and no prior knowledge is required. Share images of your finds or see what others have found.
3
Lectures
We have a lecture series that commences in February and ends in June, where experts from a variety of fields will present to club members. Lectures cover scientific topics (different types of fungi and the latest discoveries), lighter topics (cooking) and hands-on skills (identification and microscopy). Most of them have been taking place online in the last few years but we're hoping to resume in person lectures in 2024.
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Community Science
We are committed to documenting biodiversity and many of our members use the iNaturalist app to document their finds. This generates valuable records for science and conservation. Bonus: expert identifiers may well ID your specimens. We have two projects - one for NYC and one for outside the NYC - and we encourage you to join them.
7
Food
We occasionally offer food-related events, from dining in fungi-forward restaurants, to picnics to outings to supermarkets with interesting mushroom products.
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Resources
We have species lists and walk lists on our website as well as a searchable species database. As a member you are entitled to borrow one of the club's microscopes and the DNA lab, if you have attended the relevant training events.
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Community
We regularly schedule events, often with partner organizations, that are focused on community outreach, with a particular focus on organizations dedicated to the conservation and appreciation of nature, social justice, family and kids.
10
Culture
We are passionate about celebrating the intersection of fungi and the arts in all their forms. We regularly schedule cultural events with a mushroom focus, whether it’s a book club meeting or film showings. We organize festivals and celebrate and highlight the artists in our midst.
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