For our final post of Earth Week, we are going under the sea to explore an understudied and often under-appreciated portion of the fungal kingdom: marine fungi!
Photo credits: Cladosporium cf. algarum by Stefan Phalagorn

Mycelium has been shown to be our ally in the fight against global warming and climate change #EarthWeek2024
Photo: Ecuadorian Amazon mycelium by Mandie Quark mycena.media

Continuing Earth Week with an incredible way fungi are being used to benefit humans, as natural mycoinsecticides. Beauveria are insect parasites naturally occurring in soil which attack arthropods, infecting over 700 species of insects worldwide

70% of the earth’s surface is water, so for Earth Day we are getting submerged!! Today’s find is an underwater mushroom, discovered by Jonathan Frank. Psathyrella aquatica has a strong stipe, anchored to a depth of 1.6 feet, and it uses air bubbles to disperse spores! #EarthDay

Are you a student at CSU East Bay who is interested in the process of fungal conservation? We are offering a new job opportunity as a Fungarium Assistant to students already enrolled at CSU East Bay!! Access full job details and application instructions at fundis.org/about/jobs

Are you a student at UCLA who is interested in the process of fungal conservation? We are offering a new job opportunity as a Fungarium Assistant to students already enrolled at UCLA!! Access full job details and application instructions at fundis.org/about/jobs

Our Social Media Volunteer Phil Dekat created a FUNDIS Local Project in order to document fungi on publicly accessible trails at Headwaters Forest Reserve, an old growth redwood forest. If you are local, you can join the Project! Check inaturalist.org/projects/fungi…

Here we have an example of a discovery that pushes taxonomic boundaries. Last summer, this stately Chaetothiersia vernalis (iNat ID: 166099772) was noticed by Damon Tighe, a Volunteer Collector for CA FUNDIS in the Sierra Nevada Mountains

Buchwaldoboletus lignicola is a rare and beautiful bolete, with an interesting life strategy. This mushroom is thought to be a mycoparasite on Phaeolus schweinitzii. The polypore-and-bolete duo are often found together with coniferous trees in North America

☀️Hygrocybe flavifolia, a mushroom in the West Coast Rare Fungi Challenge, boasts a glossy sheen and ranges in color from the bright yellow of a midday sun to the deep golden hue of a summer afternoon. This specimen was found by Chris Dietel in the Santa Cruz Mountains

This new mushroom species Mandy Hackney found in Humboldt County CA goes by the provisional name Porpolomopsis “calyptriformis-CA01.” The CA FUNDIS project is made possible by funding from California Institute for Biodiversity !!!!

We are thrilled to unveil the winning design in our Califunga T-Shirt Design Contest! Congrats to our winning artist Taye Bright! Order a T-shirt or hoodie today to show your support of Califunga using the link bonfire.com/califunga

We are offering a great opportunity to join the CA FUNDIS team! Our Microscopy Technician will perform microscopy on fungal specimens selected for analysis by the Collections and Sequencing Leads. Access full job details and application instructions at fundis.org/about/jobs

Last year CA FUNDIS Collector Stu Pickell found and photographed this relatively unknown fungus, Pyrenophora seminiperda. His collection (iNat ID: 151056601) was the first ever observation of this species on iNaturalist

We are thrilled to announce a first for our nonprofit! Today we publish our 2023 Annual Report titled People Protecting Fungi: Surfacing Statewide Fungal Conservation Action! 🍄 The full report is available to read on the front page of our website, fundis.org

One final chance to join the CA FUNDIS Team in 2024! If you love building timelines, making plans, and shepherding projects from start to finish through obstacles and pivots, please consider submitting an application to be our CA FUNDIS Project Manager! ONLY open to CA residents!

If you love handling administrative tasks, proactively assisting with organizational operations, and overseeing the bookkeeping of a nonprofit, then you might be a great fit as our organization-wide FUNDIS Operations Lead! REMOTE position, 20-25 hrs/wk open to anyone in the U.S.

Let’s talk about Dendrocollybia racemosa... This frilly shanklet is pretty common from norCal up into the PNW. In 2011, a single collection of D. racemosa from New Hampshire expanded its known range by thousands of miles, into far Northeastern North America!

Apply now to join the CA FUNDIS Team!

2023 was an incredible year for the Fungal Diversity Survey! Scroll through this post to see all our statistics and accomplishments this year. We are excited to continue the momentum and embark into new frontiers alongside you all in 2024!!!