MSSF Meetings

On the third Tuesday of each month from September thru May, the Mycological Society of San Francisco has a General Meeting at the Randall Museum in San Francisco.

The highlight of each meeting is a speaker with slides on some aspect of mycology and mushrooming: ecology, taxonomy, mycophagy, sociology, etc. Before each meeting members bring collections which are put on display and identified. Refreshments are served before the meeting.

Doors open and identification starts at 6:30 pm.
Announcements begin at 7:30 pm, followed by the presentation.
Note: General Meetings are open to the public.
- If a meeting is expected to be so popular that attendance would exceed room capacity in the Randall Museum Theater, reserved seating is instituted and there may be an admission fee for non-members.
- Meetings will also be available via Zoom
Randall Museum Map & Directions

Mai Lovaas,

Talk Title: Female Mushroom Hunters of Zambia: Food, Medicine and Livelihoods

Meeting date and time:
7:30 pm PST, Tuesday, May 20th, 2025

Individuals may attend in-person, beginning at 6:30pm, for mushroom ID, refreshments and social interaction in the Buckley Room of the Randall Museum
Virtually: At 7:30pm, you will be able to join the group for the evening's presentation virtually. Join the Zoom Meeting
- Meeting ID: 891 8438 9640
- Passcode: 608192
- Zoom Link

Title:

Female Mushroom Hunters of Zambia: Food, Medicine and Livelihoods

Talk Description:

Zambia, a country in sub-tropical southeastern Africa, experiences a burst of fungal abundance during the rainy season when the ectomycorrhizal miombo forests fill with mushrooms. Zambia is a mycophilic culture, where mushrooms are loved and celebrated. The forests yield a variety of edible mushrooms such as chanterelles, Russulas, and Lactarius species, as well as the highly prized Termitomyces titanicus, the world’s largest edible mushroom. For many communities, mushrooms are a crucial seasonal food source. Mothers, grandmothers, and aunties teach children from an early age how to forage and identify mushrooms safely, using songs, stories, and hands-on experience to pass down this essential knowledge. For women, mushroom gathering also becomes a source of income. This talk is based on Mai Lovaas’ MSc Global Health thesis from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology titled Female Mushroom Hunters in Zambian Miombo Woodlands: Food, Medicine, Livelihoods, and Environmental Change.

Biography:

Mai Lovaas was born and raised in Norway and has lived in California for many years. She began studying plants and mushrooms in 2012 while attending the Berkeley Herbal Center, later incorporating her passion for fungi into her MSc in Global Health at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim. Through The Norwegian Association for Mycology and Foraging, Mai became a certified mushroom identification expert. During the fall season, she can often be found at mushroom identification stations across Norway, helping foragers distinguish between edible and poisonous species.