Local Nature: Mushrooming Basics & Blitz

The role of the fungi kingdom in our world cannot be overstated. Its members decompose, communicate and transfer data, feed us as well as many other earthly creatures, and perform duties perhaps undiscovered. In this hour, Melina will teach us about the key characteristics to look for that distinguish one mushroom species from another. She will show us how to capture those characteristics through photography and upload them to an iNaturalist project where the community will ID them and the project will give scientists an overview of species around you. Everyone is then encouraged to go out into the world, take photos, upload them to iNat and add to the growing worldwide data bank.