January 2025 General Meeting - Christian Schwarz “ Fungi of New Zealand: The Ecology of a Young Land”

The evening will start at 6:30 pm for those who would like to socialize, snack on Bob Wynn's fantastic spread and chat with fellow mycophiles before the main meeting. Business and announcements will start at 7:00 pm. After the business part of the meeting, Christian Schwarz will present his talk:

Fungi of New Zealand: The Ecology of a Young Land

Aotearoa — the land more commonly as New Zealand is young in many ways: In recent geologic history, it nearly drowned after splitting off from the Australian continent, and it was the last bit of Earth’s land to be inhabited by human beings. This island nation is a wild and wondrous place — very different from anything familiar to a resident of the Northern Hemisphere. We’ll talk about the holistic ecology of the place, using fungi as a lens to understand the bigger picture.

Christian Schwarz is a naturalist based in California, the land of milk (caps) and honey (mushrooms). He teaches Natural History of Fungi at UC Santa Cruz and is co-author of "Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast”, & upcoming "Mushrooms of Cascadia". Fungi satisfy his curiosity with their seemingly endless forms; from the grotesque to the bizarre to the sublime. Besides dabbling in mushroom taxonomy, he loves fish, plants, nudibranchs, moths, and dragonflies. He is passionate about community science, especially through the use of iNaturalist. He is a Research Associate at the Norris Center for Natural History at UCSC as well as the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden.