MycoRemediation Panel: How Mushrooms Digest Toxic Waste into Possibility

Islands of plastic. Mine tailings. Nuclear waste. What happens to the most toxic human-made messes? Come learn from local mycologists and restoration ecologists about how mushrooms are helping break down the most inhospitable sludge into life-giving soil and water. Cliff Bradley, Mark Vandermeer, Egan Jankowski-Bradley, and Larry Evans will be walking us through what mycoremediation is, how it works, projects that are underway (both in Montana and beyond), and what opportunities are possible in this fungal partnership. Come with questions, stay for answers!

Bios:

Mark Vander Meer is the founder of Bad Goat Forest Products.  He is a forester and restoration ecologist. As a professional forester and soil ecologist for more than 20 years, Mark has been practicing and mentoring long-term sustainable forest management in Montana and is well qualified to review forest plans and assess project sites.

Cliff Bradley is a Founder and President of Montana BioAgriculture Inc. In his 30 years career he has worked with fungi for applications in agriculture, forestry and bioremediation. His work with fungi includes all stages from strain isolation to commercial scale production. In his previous company, he conducted mycoremediation of petroleum, chlorinated compounds, and explosives.

Egan Jankowski-Bradley manages Montana BioAgriculture laboratory operations. He has 10+ years working in fungal laboratories including strain isolations, fungal production, and field trials. He recently conducted a pilot demonstration of mycoremediation of acid mine drainage in the Pioneer Mountains of Montana. Egan has also been an active member of WMMA for decades and is passionate about mushrooms.

Larry Evans has over 40 years of boogieing-around-the-woods-while-looking-at-the-ground under his belt, and if there is one man who could teach you about mushrooms in Montana, it’s Larry…if you can find him! Larry Evans is a prolific mushroom hunter, teacher, cultivator, song writer, and cook. He has organized heaps of mushroom forays, festivals, and workshops in the Rockies, Pacific Northwest, Bolivia, and Jamaica. He is a founder of the Western Montana Mycological Association, wrote a field guide to mushrooms of the Amazon, and appeared in Ron Mann’s documentary Know Your Mushrooms.

If you can’t make it in person, this event will be available live and recorded via the MCAT Facebook page. 

You do not need Facebook to access the broadcast.

Link here: https://www.facebook.com/MissoulaCommunityTelevision?mibextid=LQQJ4d

For more information, visit https://www.missoulapubliclibrary.org/calendar-of-events/mycoremediation-how-mushrooms-digest-toxic-waste-into-possibility/