The Mycological Association of Washington, Inc. upcoming events

MAWDC August Meeting - IN-PERSON (09 Aug 2026)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 20:00:00 GMT

Let's get together IN PERSON! Mark your calendars and register for a special "triathlon-style" meeting featuring forest bathing, microscopy, and trivia; oh my!

Join us at the Mount Rainier Nature Center for an unforgettable prelude to National Mushroom Month!

The meeting will be held at 4701 31st Pl. Mount Rainier MD, 20712

What’s in Store:

Forest Bathing "Light" - Led by Ana Ka'ahanui. Follow sensory invitations through MRNC's newly planted fruit and native tree grove, learn to observe nature with all your senses, and unwind with a relaxing spot of tea.
Microscopy Workshop - Led by Serenella Linares. Unveil MRNC’s new state-of-the-art screen and examine fungal spores magnified to the size of your head!
Mushroom Trivia - Led by Troy Volanth. Put your fungal knowledge to the test and win awesome swag.

In addition to food for your brain from our program leads, our culinary committee will delight us with their customary hospitality table. You can't miss this Pre-National Mushroom Month celebration!

Ana Ka'ahanui's Bio:

Ana is passionate about connecting people to nature through forest bathing, naturalist, and citizen science programs. She has been a forest bathing guide since 2020 through the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs and is devoted to sharing the practice, needed now more than ever. As a dendrophile, or lover of trees, she enjoys sharing her knowledge and Virginia Master Naturalist experience with others, especially through biodiversity initiatives such as the global City Nature Challenge and other annual bioblitzes.

She is the Founder of Wonder Joy Walks, launched on Earth Day this year, to provide meaningful nature connection experiences. She is also the Co-Founder of Capital Nature, a DC-area nonprofit dedicated to sharing the unique nature opportunities in the region. For over two decades, she worked with the nonprofit U.S. Green Building Council, where she led sustainability tours, managed communications projects, curated digital assets, and served as staff photographer. Throughout her career, she has been dedicated to using both the natural and built environment as teaching tools to inspire connection, inclusivity, and environmental stewardship.

See you all there!

DNA Lab Day @ Mount Rainier Nature Center (23 Aug 2026)

Sun, 23 Aug 2026 14:00:00 GMT

Join us at Mount Rainier Nature Center at 10am to bring your mushroom samples or at 1pm to ask questions about our process or anything fungi. Our experts are excited to see you! Mark your calendars!

Mount Rainier Nature Center is located at 4701 31st Place, Mount Rainier MD, 20712

If you are bringing samples to us, please ensure that the samples have been properly documented on iNaturalist, and that each of your samples has a unique iNaturalist observation number by the time of your arrival. Follow the process below to make your observation:

MAKING AN OBSERVATION

PHOTOGRAPH BEFORE DETACHING!

Take more than one picture
Show where the fungus is growing from (substrate)
- If attached to something living, identify as much as possible. Ex: conifer, deciduous, oak, american holly, etc.
Photograph the habit (growing alone, gregarious, in clusters, etc.)
Take a picture from the top

DETACH

Take a picture of the underside
Cut through the spore producing surface and notice if there are changes in color or secretion of latex. If so annotate and photograph
Add any smell or bruising you observe in the notes section

PREPARING SAMPLE FOR DNA EXTRACTION

Place the mushroom on a coffee filter, piece of paper, or wax bag
Write the voucher information: date of collection, location, name of collector, field ID (Russula, Bolete, Agaricus, etc) and iNaturalist observation number.
Place your sample inside its voucher bag in a dehydrator at 100° until it is dry as cardboard. The timing of his process will vary depending on the size of the mushroom.
- If you don’t have a dehydrator, you can place the mushroom in your oven using its lowest setting and leaving the door of the oven cracked with a clothespin. Check on this setting every hour to prevent burning or cooking the specimen.
Once the specimen has been dried, wait for it to cool to room temperature and place the voucher bag and the mushroom inside in a closed ziplock bag to prevent rehydration with humid air.

Once you have a dried specimen inside a bag labeled with your name, location, date of collection, iNaturalist observation number, and approximate ID, you are ready to bring the sample to us

In the link below you’ll find the slideshow used for the training on how to make observations and how to label your sample bag to serve as a voucher as well.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/18N69qmR7zaUbveKunJVO6vcwY1hSQoYobPJFaUd2HDk/edit?usp=drivesdk

We will receive your properly documented sample with our deepest gratitude

We are excited to see you there!

-Serenella Linares, Programs Chair & Megan Romberg, Science Advisor
The Mycological Association of Washington, Inc.

Camp Sequanota Mushroom Weekend (03 Sep 2026)

Thu, 03 Sep 2026 19:00:00 GMT

Registration closes August 16

To register, click the gray Register button that appears below the lodging options. (On your phone it should be just above the picture and on desktop it should be to the left of this text at the very bottom.)

Join MAW for a mushroom-filled weekend in Pennsylvania's Laurel Highlands. Our foray at Camp Sequanota has been an annual event for more than 40 years. It's a great opportunity to advance your mushroom knowledge and get to know other mushroom and nature enthusiasts.

Our guest mycologists are Shannon Nix and Todd Elliott.

Each day we will have mushroom walks at various locations and many workshops -- including mushroom cooking, mushroom ID for newbies, fungal felting, mushroom sculpting, medicinal mushrooms, and documenting mushroom diversity on iNat. In the evenings after dinner on Saturday and Sunday our guest mycologists will give presentations. Saturday concludes with a night walk, and Sunday evening wraps up with our fourth annual myco-costume/talent show (bring along a costume, a song, a poem, or a skit!)

Your registration includes 8 meals (Friday evening to Monday breakfast), all walks, workshops, and evening programs. (Thursday evening arrival is an extra add-on and includes Friday breakfast and lunch. Please add on for each guest too.)

Onsite accommodations options are basic motel-style rooms, summer camp style cabins, or camping. (Keep in mind nature is all around so it's possible there may be some small non-human guests in accommodations - staff will do their best to escort uninvited critters outside.) There are also a few different hotels within 30 minutes of the campus.

It takes many hands to put on this event so please consider volunteering some of your time to help with tasks such as cleaning foraged mushrooms and cleanup at the end of the event.

Note: guests are not permitted to bring dogs to Sequanota.

DNA Lab Day @ Mount Rainier Nature Center (27 Sep 2026)

Sun, 27 Sep 2026 14:00:00 GMT

Mount Rainier Nature Center is located at 4701 31st Place, Mount Rainier MD, 20712

MAKING AN OBSERVATION

PHOTOGRAPH BEFORE DETACHING!

Take more than one picture
Show where the fungus is growing from (substrate)
- If attached to something living, identify as much as possible. Ex: conifer, deciduous, oak, american holly, etc.
Photograph the habit (growing alone, gregarious, in clusters, etc.)
Take a picture from the top

DETACH

Take a picture of the underside
Cut through the spore producing surface and notice if there are changes in color or secretion of latex. If so annotate and photograph
Add any smell or bruising you observe in the notes section

PREPARING SAMPLE FOR DNA EXTRACTION

Place the mushroom on a coffee filter, piece of paper, or wax bag
Write the voucher information: date of collection, location, name of collector, field ID (Russula, Bolete, Agaricus, etc) and iNaturalist observation number.
Place your sample inside its voucher bag in a dehydrator at 100° until it is dry as cardboard. The timing of his process will vary depending on the size of the mushroom.
- If you don’t have a dehydrator, you can place the mushroom in your oven using its lowest setting and leaving the door of the oven cracked with a clothespin. Check on this setting every hour to prevent burning or cooking the specimen.
Once the specimen has been dried, wait for it to cool to room temperature and place the voucher bag and the mushroom inside in a closed ziplock bag to prevent rehydration with humid air.

Once you have a dried specimen inside a bag labeled with your name, location, date of collection, iNaturalist observation number, and approximate ID, you are ready to bring the sample to us

In the link below you’ll find the slideshow used for the training on how to make observations and how to label your sample bag to serve as a voucher as well.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/18N69qmR7zaUbveKunJVO6vcwY1hSQoYobPJFaUd2HDk/edit?usp=drivesdk

We will receive your properly documented sample with our deepest gratitude

We are excited to see you there!

-Serenella Linares, Programs Chair & Megan Romberg, Science Advisor
The Mycological Association of Washington, Inc.

Board Meeting (29 Sep 2026)

Tue, 29 Sep 2026 23:00:00 GMT

Zoom Link:

https://zoom.us/j/96693690911?pwd=YWdyeXh1bHF1N1UyNjNieFovNWFUZz09

Meeting ID 966 9369 0911

Passcode 330827

MAW 2026 Mushroom Fair (11 Oct 2026)

Sun, 11 Oct 2026 16:00:00 GMT

Join the Mycological Association of Washington for our annual mushroom fair at Brookside Gardens Sunday October 11, from 12 pm to 5 pm. Open to the general public, the 2025 MAW Mushroom Fair will mushroom ID walks on the grounds of Brookside and Wheaton Regional Park, a display of numerous local mushrooms, mushroom-themed demonstrations, spore microscopy, mycelial sculpting, mushroom cultivation and more. This family-friendly event will also feature kids' activities, including a trio of mushroom-themed books read by the author (MAW’s own AD Gray). Bring cash to purchase mushroom art, photography, tinctures, grow kits, and more from onsite vendors.

Mushroom walks will depart every half hour to explore the grounds of Brookside Gardens and Wheaton Regional Park. No registration is required; this event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact vp@mawdc.org. Carpool link for MAW members is here.

DNA Lab Day @ Mount Rainier Nature Center (25 Oct 2026)

Sun, 25 Oct 2026 14:00:00 GMT

Mount Rainier Nature Center is located at 4701 31st Place, Mount Rainier MD, 20712

MAKING AN OBSERVATION

PHOTOGRAPH BEFORE DETACHING!

Take more than one picture
Show where the fungus is growing from (substrate)
- If attached to something living, identify as much as possible. Ex: conifer, deciduous, oak, american holly, etc.
Photograph the habit (growing alone, gregarious, in clusters, etc.)
Take a picture from the top

DETACH

Take a picture of the underside
Cut through the spore producing surface and notice if there are changes in color or secretion of latex. If so annotate and photograph
Add any smell or bruising you observe in the notes section

PREPARING SAMPLE FOR DNA EXTRACTION

Place the mushroom on a coffee filter, piece of paper, or wax bag
Write the voucher information: date of collection, location, name of collector, field ID (Russula, Bolete, Agaricus, etc) and iNaturalist observation number.
Place your sample inside its voucher bag in a dehydrator at 100° until it is dry as cardboard. The timing of his process will vary depending on the size of the mushroom.
- If you don’t have a dehydrator, you can place the mushroom in your oven using its lowest setting and leaving the door of the oven cracked with a clothespin. Check on this setting every hour to prevent burning or cooking the specimen.
Once the specimen has been dried, wait for it to cool to room temperature and place the voucher bag and the mushroom inside in a closed ziplock bag to prevent rehydration with humid air.

Once you have a dried specimen inside a bag labeled with your name, location, date of collection, iNaturalist observation number, and approximate ID, you are ready to bring the sample to us

In the link below you’ll find the slideshow used for the training on how to make observations and how to label your sample bag to serve as a voucher as well.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/18N69qmR7zaUbveKunJVO6vcwY1hSQoYobPJFaUd2HDk/edit?usp=drivesdk

We will receive your properly documented sample with our deepest gratitude

We are excited to see you there!

-Serenella Linares, Programs Chair & Megan Romberg, Science Advisor
The Mycological Association of Washington, Inc.

Halloween Lichen Foray- Saturday, Oct 31 (31 Oct 2026)

Sat, 31 Oct 2026 14:00:00 GMT

Foray Announcement:

Rock Creek Cemetery

Saturday, October 31st - 10:00 AM

Foray Leaders: Dr. Natalie Howe & Tom McCoy

No registration necessary for this event.

In honor of the Halloween season, MAWDC is hosting a fa-boo-lous lichen identification walk in historic Rock Creek Cemetery with lichenologist Dr. Natalie Howe and Tom McCoy. Lichens are composite organisms that grow on rocks, e.g. tombstones, so you should definitely stop in for a spell.

Lichens are best appreciated under magnification, so bring along a hand lens if you have one, but if you don't, no worries, we'll have many available for loan. Also, be aware that Rock Creek Cemetery is famous for its funerary arts, and we'll have a few pauses to appreciate their beauty as our leaders explain the history and symbolism of a few sculptures. We're taking a Halloween walk in a famous cemetery to learn about lichens and amazing art. What fun(gi) we're going to have!

We'll meet at the gate entrance near the intersection of Webster Street and Rock Creek Church Road. Finding parking can be challenging, but you may be able to locate a spot on Webster St., or by parallel parking along New Hampshire Ave.

Map to the location

Stay spooky,

Tom McCoy

DNA Lab Day @ Mount Rainier Nature Center (15 Nov 2026)

Sun, 15 Nov 2026 15:00:00 GMT

Mount Rainier Nature Center is located at 4701 31st Place, Mount Rainier MD, 20712

MAKING AN OBSERVATION

PHOTOGRAPH BEFORE DETACHING!

Take more than one picture
Show where the fungus is growing from (substrate)
- If attached to something living, identify as much as possible. Ex: conifer, deciduous, oak, american holly, etc.
Photograph the habit (growing alone, gregarious, in clusters, etc.)
Take a picture from the top

DETACH

Take a picture of the underside
Cut through the spore producing surface and notice if there are changes in color or secretion of latex. If so annotate and photograph
Add any smell or bruising you observe in the notes section

PREPARING SAMPLE FOR DNA EXTRACTION

Place the mushroom on a coffee filter, piece of paper, or wax bag
Write the voucher information: date of collection, location, name of collector, field ID (Russula, Bolete, Agaricus, etc) and iNaturalist observation number.
Place your sample inside its voucher bag in a dehydrator at 100° until it is dry as cardboard. The timing of his process will vary depending on the size of the mushroom.
- If you don’t have a dehydrator, you can place the mushroom in your oven using its lowest setting and leaving the door of the oven cracked with a clothespin. Check on this setting every hour to prevent burning or cooking the specimen.
Once the specimen has been dried, wait for it to cool to room temperature and place the voucher bag and the mushroom inside in a closed ziplock bag to prevent rehydration with humid air.

Once you have a dried specimen inside a bag labeled with your name, location, date of collection, iNaturalist observation number, and approximate ID, you are ready to bring the sample to us

In the link below you’ll find the slideshow used for the training on how to make observations and how to label your sample bag to serve as a voucher as well.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/18N69qmR7zaUbveKunJVO6vcwY1hSQoYobPJFaUd2HDk/edit?usp=drivesdk

We will receive your properly documented sample with our deepest gratitude

We are excited to see you there!

-Serenella Linares, Programs Chair & Megan Romberg, Science Advisor
The Mycological Association of Washington, Inc.

Winter Board Meeting (13 Dec 2026)

Sun, 13 Dec 2026 21:00:00 GMT

Zoom Link:

https://zoom.us/j/96693690911?pwd=YWdyeXh1bHF1N1UyNjNieFovNWFUZz09

Meeting ID 966 9369 0911

Passcode 330827

DNA Lab Day @ Mount Rainier Nature Center (20 Dec 2026)

Sun, 20 Dec 2026 15:00:00 GMT

Mount Rainier Nature Center is located at 4701 31st Place, Mount Rainier MD, 20712

MAKING AN OBSERVATION

PHOTOGRAPH BEFORE DETACHING!

Take more than one picture
Show where the fungus is growing from (substrate)
- If attached to something living, identify as much as possible. Ex: conifer, deciduous, oak, american holly, etc.
Photograph the habit (growing alone, gregarious, in clusters, etc.)
Take a picture from the top

DETACH

Take a picture of the underside
Cut through the spore producing surface and notice if there are changes in color or secretion of latex. If so annotate and photograph
Add any smell or bruising you observe in the notes section

PREPARING SAMPLE FOR DNA EXTRACTION

Place the mushroom on a coffee filter, piece of paper, or wax bag
Write the voucher information: date of collection, location, name of collector, field ID (Russula, Bolete, Agaricus, etc) and iNaturalist observation number.
Place your sample inside its voucher bag in a dehydrator at 100° until it is dry as cardboard. The timing of his process will vary depending on the size of the mushroom.
- If you don’t have a dehydrator, you can place the mushroom in your oven using its lowest setting and leaving the door of the oven cracked with a clothespin. Check on this setting every hour to prevent burning or cooking the specimen.
Once the specimen has been dried, wait for it to cool to room temperature and place the voucher bag and the mushroom inside in a closed ziplock bag to prevent rehydration with humid air.

Once you have a dried specimen inside a bag labeled with your name, location, date of collection, iNaturalist observation number, and approximate ID, you are ready to bring the sample to us

In the link below you’ll find the slideshow used for the training on how to make observations and how to label your sample bag to serve as a voucher as well.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/18N69qmR7zaUbveKunJVO6vcwY1hSQoYobPJFaUd2HDk/edit?usp=drivesdk

We will receive your properly documented sample with our deepest gratitude

We are excited to see you there!

-Serenella Linares, Programs Chair & Megan Romberg, Science Advisor
The Mycological Association of Washington, Inc.