Fungi: Web of Life

Reel Science: Fungi: Web of Life

SEPT 11, 6:30-8:30PM | Doors @ 6:15PM

Watch and learn at The Empirical Theater as OMSI brings the science of your favorite movies and documentaries to life on the big screen. Perfect for science and film lovers alike, this series combines the best Science Pub with the fun of movie night, bringing in experts to amplify your movie-watching experience.

Join Peter McCoy, Charles Lefevre, and Julie Beeler for a lively discussion about the all powerful fungi kingdom–from their ability to provide solutions to our current climate and environmental crisis to producing delicious, delectable truffles to offering a myriad of colorful dyes and pigments.

Tickets: Pay what you can, tickets for this event will be a sliding scale of $0-$15.

ABOUT THE FILM: FUNGI: WEB OF LIFE | Much of life on Earth is connected by a vast, hidden network that we are only just beginning to understand. Out of sight, between the world of plants and animals, another world exists—-the kingdom of fungi.

Duration: 45 minutes | Rating: G

SPEAKER BIOS:

Peter McCoy is a renowned applied mycology researcher and educator who has endeavored to understand and share the world of fungi with others for over 20 years. He is the author of Radical Mycology: A Treatise on Seeing and Working with Fungi and The Mycocultural Revolution: Transforming Our World With Mushrooms, Lichens, and Other Fungi, the founder of the mycology advocacy organization Radical Mycology, director of the Fungi Film Fest, and the founder and lead instructor at Mycologos, an applied mycology school and experimental fungi farm based in Portland, Oregon. His work has spanned field work in mycoremediation practices, extensive writing on the history of human-fungal relations, and in the presentation of novel hypothesis on the nature of fungal growth, communication, and evolution. His work has been featured in the films Fantastic Fungi and The Mushroom Speaks, and in the books Entangled Life, In Search of Mycotopia, and The Future is Fungi. From his hometown in Portland, Peter’s daily practice centers on pondering, designing, cultivating, and researching ever-healthier relations between humans, fungi, and the habitats we share.

Dr. Charles Lefevre is a visionary force behind Oregon Truffle Festival and founder of New World Truffieres, Charles is recognized internationally as a pioneer of the North American truffle industry, and is unquestionably the most successful producer of inoculated trees and producing truffle orchards on the continent. He received his PhD in Forest Mycology at Oregon State University, where he earned a reputation for his insatiable curiosity and his uncompromising integrity. He designed and developed one of the largest gatherings of truffle farmers, scientists, and entrepreneurs in the world for the annual Truffle Growers’ Forum to share their expertise and experience in what is otherwise a very secretive and fiercely competitive industry.

Julie Beeler is an acclaimed designer, artist, and educator with a deep love and curiosity for the natural world. She created the Mushroom Color Atlas to honor and celebrate the universe of resplendent color that exists in the fungi kingdom, making it accessible to people around the world. Her book The Mushroom Color Atlas, recently published by Chronicle Books, is a comprehensive primer on the universe of colors lurking inside fungi. It is equal parts art book, field guide, and dye-making workshop. Julie’s work inspires new ways of thinking about the possibility and power of natural color and supports an important, scalable trend and innovation to the benefit of the greater good: moving people away from synthetic colorants to those readily available in nature. Her work has been featured by The New York Times, Popular Science, The Smithsonian Institution and The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, among others. Julie lives at the base of a volcano in Trout Lake, WA, ideally situated for foraging mushrooms, growing fresh-cut color, and creating fine art.

Fiona McCann hails from County Kildare, Ireland, and has worked for Reuters (Argentina), Time Out (Buenos Aires), and The Times (London) among other media outlets, before landing stateside. The former Editor in Chief of Portland Monthly magazine, she now writes a weekly podcast review for the Irish Times newspaper, as well as arts and culture features, interviews, and news and analysis from the US.