May Speaker

Mike McCurdy

Female Mushroom Hunters of Zambia
Food, Medicine and Livelihoods
Mai Lovaas, 5/20/2025 - MSSF General Meeting

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 Lactifluus 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.

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.

· Meeting date and time: 7:30 pm PDT, Tuesday, May 20th, 2025
· Individuals may attend in-person, beginning at 6:30pm, for mushroom ID, refreshments and social interaction in the lobby or Buckley Room of the Randall Museum
· Virtually: At 7:30pm, Join the Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 891 8438 9640

May 2025
May Speaker Mike McCurdy Female Mushroom Hunters of Zambia Food, Medicine and Livelihoods Mai Lovaas, 5/20/2025 - MSSF General Meeting 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 Lactifluus 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. 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. · Meeting date and time: 7:30 pm PDT, Tuesday, May 20th, 2025 · Individuals may attend in-person, beginning at 6:30pm, for mushroom ID, refreshments and social interaction in the lobby or Buckley Room of the Randall Museum · Virtually: At 7:30pm, Join the Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 891 8438 9640
Mycena Newsletter - May 2025