Beneath your feet and in your body, fungi are creative agents of change and connection. At the fourth annual Texas Mushroom Conference on Sunday, April 19, mycologists and researchers in biology, mental and physical health, ecology, and psychedelics unravel mushrooms\u2019 lessons in how to change your environment and how to change your mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have so much to learn from fungi and that\u2019s really what the conference is all about,\u201d says TMC co-founder and co-coordinator Aixarret Hernandez.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the young researcher\u2019s mind, Austin is a particularly poignant place for tapping into fungal potential \u2013\u00a0not just because of its hippie reputation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s such a developing city with a lot of waste and waste issues,\u201d says Hernandez. \u201cThere\u2019s amazing trailblazers trying to figure out how [can] we combat that waste? How do we restore our ecosystems? It\u2019s incredible that a big part of that is using fungi.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of those local trailblazers is conference speaker Josh Googins, founder of gourmet growers Fallen Oak Mycology<\/a> and MycoTex Biotech<\/a> fungal consulting. Nature\u2019s built-in recyclers do plenty of decomposition on their own, but Googins will share his method of intentionally connecting spores and landowners or researchers to facilitate nutrient-rich soil regeneration or fungal growth for use in biopharmaceutical development.<\/p>\n Mushroom-loving innovators in sustainability aren\u2019t the only mycological pioneers to be found in Austin. There are also legislators and lobbyists, including conference presenter Logan Davidson, who helped pass<\/a> House Bill 1802, allowing the University of Texas at Austin to open the Charmaine & Gordon McGill Center for Psychedelic Research<\/a>. The center is the first of its kind in Texas, conducting observational and clinical studies for the benefit of researchers and mental health patients across the world, but especially our state\u2019s specific population.<\/p>\n \u201cTexas is home to many, many veterans, and many have been very outspoken proponents of psychedelics for treating the mental health conditions that they often suffer as a result of their military service, including traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, substance use disorders, and several other conditions,\u201d explains center co-director Dr. Greg Fonzo. \u201cOur focus is really on trying to bring a high degree of scientific rigor to the study of psychedelic compounds and their applications for alleviating mental health conditions.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Like the mycelial network intertwining the world of plants underground, the Texas Mushroom Conference brings these different areas of fungal research together and expands upon the educational power of these quick-growing, regenerative symbols of regrowth and experimentation. In between panel discussions and keynote speakers, conference attendees can pick up their own locally crafted growing kits, browse fungi art, munch on mushroom snacks, and participate in a mushroom costume contest, all in the spirit of these culturally beloved, unique organisms that have captured many imaginations.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re already part of fungi,\u201d reminds Angel Schatz, executive director of the Central Texas Mycological Society. From the food that we eat to the 1,000 to 10 billion spores we breathe in<\/a> on a daily basis, \u201cit\u2019s already in us,\u201d she says. \u201cWhy not understand the role it can take from a health perspective, mental health, physical health, our planet\u2019s health, every organism\u2019s health?\u201d<\/p>\n Texas Mushroom Conference<\/p>\n Sunday 19, UT-Austin\u2019s Etter-Harbin Alumni Center<\/p>\n txmushcon.com<\/p>\n