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Volume 37, Issue 4Fall 2019October 8, 2019: Dr. Roo VandegriftRicher than Gold:Biodiversity vs. Industrial MiningIn this Issue:Page #October speaker1November speaker2December speaker2Mycoflora Project3Exciting upcoming events!4Page of un-interesting things5NATS registration form6Don’t miss the October NATS speaker meeting!Dr. Roo Vandegrift, recently returned from anexpedition to the heart of the cloud forest, will givea presentation that is sure to be mind blowing. Beprepared for amazing images testifying to the richbiodiversity in one of western Ecuador’s lastunlogged watersheds. Emphasis, of course, on thefungal part (esp. genus Xylaria).Hailing from the Appalachians of southwestVirginia, Roo earned a BS in Dr. RH Jones’ soilecology lab at Virginia Tech. He completed hisPhD at the University of Oregon with Dr. BittyRoy. During his studies he earned numerous grantsand the opportunity to work with the incomparabletaxonomist Dr. Yu-Ming Ju as part of NSF’s 2013East Asia and Pacific Summer Institute program inTaiwan.Roo is currently involved in an EPA-funded largestudy focused on impacts of weatherization onmicrobial communities found in household dust,among other things. Amazingly, he has spare time,during which he serves as Herbarium Liaison withthe North American Mycoflora project, acts as anUPCOMING MEETINGSExecutive Board Member for the RainforestAll general meetings are held at 7:30pm in roomInformation Center’s campaign against the2087 of Cordley Hall on the Corvallis OSUcampus. Cordley is reached via Orchard Avenueexpansion of metals mining on protected forests ineast of 30th St; click here for a street map. Room the Ecuadorian Andes, and studies taxonomy and2087 is on the second floor on the south side ofthe building; click here for a building map. Parking systematics fungi in the Ascomycete familyXylariaceae.in any of the A1 lots is free after 5pm.1

November 5, 2019 Speakers: Jim & Jamie PART 2Truffle hunting across three continents and two oceansJim and Jamie gave Part 1 of this talk toNATS last May. For a review of all the goodthings said about them, reread the lastNewsletter Volume 37 No. 2 (available atnatruffling.org if you didn’t save your copy).That article ended as follows:“I don’t know where they will go nextbut two things are certain:1. Jim’s truffle interns keep him feelingyoung while he turns them old beforetheir time and2. You won’t want to miss the Mayspeaker meeting as old and young sharetheir adventures pursuing the joy oftruffles. And how they earned themedals ”As they had time only to cover theAustralian parts of their adventure, don’tmiss the upcoming meeting to learn howthey earned those handsome medals andfollow their truffling adventures on morenortherly continents.December 10, 2019 Speaker:Dr. Joey SpataforaThe Oregon Mycoflora ProjectAre you familiar with the North American MycofloraProject (NAMP)? Undoubtedly you are familiar withthe name Joey Spatafora. Join NATS at theDecember speaker meeting where Joey Spatafora willprovide an in-depth understanding of the NAMPproject.If you are not familiar with Dr. Joseph Spatafora, heis former president of the Mycological Society ofAmerica, and was recently appointed DepartmentHead for Botany and Plant Pathology at OregonState University. In his 23 years at OSU he hasmaintained an active and successful record ofteaching, research and service, for which he wasrecognized as one of OSU’s DistinguishedProfessors in 2018. His research on the evolutionarybiology of fungi is recognized internationally.2Two distinguished mycologists:Dr. Spatafora and Dr. Luoma

North American Mycoflora ProjectWhat is it?North American Mycoflora Project (NAMP) isan organization dedicated to a continental-widecollaboration between citizen scientists andprofessional mycologists to document thebiodiversity of North American fungi. This isaccomplished by empowering mushroomenthusiasts with the tools they need to doscientifically rigorous research. essentially intheir own backyard.How does it work?The process goes like this:-Find a mushroom or truffle (yay you!)-Photo document and voucher the specimen-Deposit specimens in an herbarium/fungarium-Samples are subjected to DNA sequencing tocomplement the morphological observations byamateur mycologists.Eventually, these fungal diversity surveys will beutilized in producing a modern, comprehensivelist of macrofungi for North America.Who’s doing it?If you are reading this newsletter, YOU are.Independent of the nerdy perks and pure natureentertainment value, this kind of communityscience contributes mightily to the understandingof fungi and development of ever importantconservation strategies.Shouldn’t NATS be doing it?We are! NATS pioneered mycological “citizenscientist” participation 41 years ago! Now wehave new tools that weren’t available 40 yearsago: see side panel for details.Want to read more about it?Visit: http://mycoflora.org/3MYCOBLITZ FORAY TOMARYS PEAKOctober 24 – Join us to learn how to bea citizen scientist as part of the NorthAmerican Mycoflora Project lined Oregonians areworking to create an Oregon MycofloraProject, and NATS is uniquely suited tohelp put fungi on the map! TheMycoflora bioblitz week ntal-mycoblitz-2019 is Oct 20-27,so we will be participating in that nationwide effort. If you have a smart phonedownload the iNaturalist app ahead oftime.Meet at the Marys River Park (300 S 11thStreet) in Philomath at 12:30 PM onThursday, Oct. 24. We will meet in theshelter to learn how to collect goodvoucher specimens, fill in field datacards, take good photographs, andsubmit them to iNaturalist as part of theMycoflora efforts. We will then carpoolup to Marys Peak to look for truffles tosubmit. It is unlikely that there will beany culinary truffles found at thiselevation, but some rare species havebeen found at this site by NATSmembers in the past.

NATS November 22-24 weekend forayOur fall weekend foray will be at Camp Westwind, on the coast just north of Lincoln City.Camp Westwind offers miles of hiking trails in pine and spruce forests and a beautiful beachalmost exclusively accessible from the Camp. Lodging is dorm-style in rustic cabins (each sleeps9), with access to the Wilson Community Lodge for gathering and mushroom displays and asmall kitchen. Restrooms and showers are communal but private. Attendees arrive Fridayafternoon-evening and get settled in, we’ll forage until we drop on Saturday then enjoy a catereddinner and social time that evening (adult beverages are allowed). On Sunday, folks are welcometo stroll the grounds and beach to their heart’s content and head home in the afternoon. Costfor the weekend will be 70, including Saturday night dinner. Unfortunately we cannotaccommodate single night pricing for this event. Folks wishing to attend need to submit a signedliability waiver form and pre-payment to Marilyn Hinds by November 8, and will receive detailedinstructions prior to the event. Interested people please email mkhinballard@peak.org for forms.The Yachats Mushroom Festival isTurning 20!!!October 18-20, 2019: The YachatsMushroom Festival calls all fun guys andfun gals to enjoy a weekend of delectablewild forest mushroom cuisine, expert-ledmushroom walks, talks and exhibits, culinaryclasses and fungi arts workshops, culinarymushroom markets, wine tasting, and liveentertainment. Guided mushroom walks andexhibits are free and open to the public.The Annual Mt. Pisgah Mushroom ShowOctober 27: The annual Mt. Pisgah Mushroom Show inEugene features a huge mushroom exhibit, great live music,food, children’s activities, hay rides, nature walks and ascarecrow contest. The festival is loaded with fun things todo for everyone in the family. A wide variety of mushrooms,plants, and arts and crafts will be on sale, with proceedssupporting the Arboretum’s work in environmentaleducation and habitat restoration. This event is one of thelargest mushroom displays on the West Coast. Bring theentire family (except the dog) to enjoy the festival. Suggesteddonation 10 per person, children under 12 free.Photo courtesy the Cascade MycologicalSociety website, used without permission.4

WANTEDUNIDENTIFIED TRUFFLE?Creative suggestions for newsletter topics,comments about articles, your opinionsabout any truffle and/or fungi related topic.Send contributions to: newsletter editorSarah Shay atNATrufflingsociety@gmail.comWhat to do?Information contained in The Truffler isto be used at your own risk. NATS Inc.,its officers, editors, and members are notresponsible for the use or misuse ofinformation presented herein. If you areunsure of mushroom identification orsafety, please consult an expert! Inaddition, attending and participating in aNATS event is entirely at your own risk.No person associated with NATS iseither directly or indirectly responsiblefor anything that occurs during, or intransit to/from, a NATS event. Beresponsible.Visit www.natruffling.org for a printable field datacard (hand-written submissions on awesomestationary certainly welcome). Please provide adescription of significant characteristics of thehabitat immediately surrounding the collectionsite, including the dominant trees and othervegetation species and slope/exposure. Alsoinclude site coordinates (GPS data, if available)and, when possible, color digital images showing asurface view and an interior section, cut top-tobottom, through the center of the truffle.Prior to submission, gently remove loosesoil from the specimen. DO NOT scrubbriskly or use a stiff brush; an intact outerskin is important for identification. Drythoroughly using a food dehydrator OR byrefrigerating samples in a loosely closedpaper bag for a couple days. For fasterdrying, cut truffles in half to reducemoisture trapped by the outer skin.Mail your dried specimen to:Dr. Jim Trufflin’ TrappeUSFS Forestry Sciences Lab3200 Jefferson WayCorvallis, OR 97331If you want to know what your truffle turned outto be, please include your email address or a selfaddressed stamped postcard!5