• The Fascinating World of Psychoactive Fungi

    This talk will cover psychoactive fungi from a multitude of angles. You'll learn how to identify common psychoactive fungi of the North East in the field; covering species within Psilocybe, Panaeolus, Gymnopilus, Pholiotina, Pluteus and Amanita. We'll survey their use in different cultures from the past to the present, and learn how their unusual biochemistry is being put to therapeutic use. We'll end by looking at their current legal status and how this is expected to evolve with their increasing acceptance.

  • A life among polypores

    Leif's passion for polypores started with an accidental collection of a bracket fungi which then developed to a lifestyle. In the course of collecting polypores for the last 40 years Leif has visited over 70 different countries, resulting in 50,000+ collections in the Oslo Fungarium. Twelve African PhD students have stayed in Oslo under Leif's supervision, which in turn resulted in numerous expeditions and field work in all types of tropical forests as well as other remote places where no collections have been made, such as Tierra Fuego and St. Helena, to mention a few.