September General Meeting: Dr Dennis Desjardin
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Please join us for our General Meeting at the Harvey West Scout House. Doors open at 7, with refreshments and informal mushroom ID from 7:00 - 7:30. A discussion of upcoming events will precede our speaker, Dr. Dennis Desjardin, Professor of Mycology in the Biology Department at San Francisco State.
Join us for his talk on "Fungi and Human Affairs" which will address how humans interact with fungi in the world. He will highlight what fungi do, how they are beneficial and detrimental to the planet and to us, and how we use them to enhance the quality of our lives.
His new book, California Mushrooms: The Comprehensive Identification Guide, published by Timber Press and co-authored by photographers Michael Wood and Frederick Stevens, is now available. The book retails for $60. It will be offered at the meeting for $50 each (17% discount and no shipping!), CASH, and he will sign any that people want signed.
Dr. Desjardin received a Master's degree in Ecology and Systematic Biology from San Francisco State University under the tutelage of Dr. Harry D. Thiers, and a PhD in Botany from the University of Tennessee studying with Dr. Ronald H. Petersen. He taught for one year at Oberlin College (Ohio) and then succeeded Dr. Thiers at San Francisco State in 1990, where he is currently a Professor of Mycology in the Biology Department. Dr. Desjardin specializes in the evolution, systematics, diversity and ecology of mushroom-forming fungi.
He currently has active projects in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Micronesia (Pohnpei & Kosrae), the Hawaiian Islands, Brazil (Amazonia & São Paulo), Madagascar, the west African islands of São Tomé and Príncipe, and California. He has published over 130 refereed scientific papers and 5 books, in which he has described 250 new species and 7 new genera. His achievements were recognized by the Mycological Society of America (MSA) with the Alexopoulos Award for outstanding research, and the William H. Weston Award for Teaching Excellence, both in 1998, and was made a Fellow of the MSA in 2005. He is a Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences, and the first to receive the Distinguished Faculty Award in Professional Achievement from San Francisco State University (2007).
In addition, he is the Scientific Advisor for the Mycological Society of San Francisco, America's largest amateur mushroom society (approx. 1000 members).