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Working With Fungi to Advance Human-Fungal Relations
With their unique abilities to degrade complex substances, transport nutrients, and facilitate stable food webs above and below the soil horizon, mushrooms and other fungi are silent sculptors of the world's habitats. By allying with fungi, humans can incorporate these and other fungal functions into the systems we design to better manage natural resources, revitalize disturbed habitats, and reduce the waste produced by individuals and industries. At Mycologos, our research into these practices focuses on several applications that we consider among the most practical and repeatable.
Following on early work pioneered by Peter McCoy, we are currently developing accessible protocols for large scale used cigarette filter digestion and upcycling. Used filters are among the most commonly polluted items in the world, releasing nearly 2,000 different toxins into water systems wherever they are improperly discarded.
Many of the heavy metals that pollute water systems will naturally bond to the surface of fungal tissue. To help remove some of the metals polluting the Willamette River, located in the center our own hometown of Portland, Oregon, we are currently working to integrate the mycelium-rich spent substrate created at our Fungi Farm into water treatment sites along the Willamette.
With the support of NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts program, we are working alongside a team of experts to utilize fungi in the conversion of asteroid dust into a plant growing medium that will sustain greenhouses during interplanetary travel.
Protecting and promoting the influences of fungi on the environment and human culture is at the heart of our mission and is woven throughout several protection projects we oversee.
The Mycologos MycoDiversity Project hosts a growing collection of fungal specimens that have notable ecological or cultural significance, including mushrooms, lichens, molds, and yeasts. Specimens are thoroughly documented and preserved to aid in understanding of the spread and shifts in fungal species migrations.
The Mycologos Yourcelium Culture Collection (MYCC) is where the genetics of some of the collections in our Fungarium are preserved. These unique cultures are incorporated into our applied mycology research, including our mycoremediation work.
Through all our work, the Japanese notion of kaizen, the art of continuous improvement, reminds us that each small step we take to improving our offerings will only serve to make the mycoculture of tomorrow more resilient. We strive to ensure all aspects of our work are as repeatable and practical for our students as possible and we constantly refine our designs as the global community of practicing mycologists evolves.
