We are pleased to announce the recipients of the spring 2024 Boston Mycological Club grants and scholarships competition. We received many more applications than we could fund, and we thank everyone who sent in a proposal. We made awards in three categories:
I. SCHOLARSHIPS: The BMC has a long tradition of supporting its members to attend mycological classes, workshops, and forays. This year, the Club is a cosponsor of the 47th Annual Samuel Ristich Foray of the Northeast Mycological Federation (NEMF), which will be held Oct. 11-14 on Cape Cod, at the Emerald Resort and Conference Center in Hyannis MA. The BMC will sponsor four members to attend the 2024 NEMF foray: Courtney Costantino, Ellen Haiken, Andrew Jacob, and Isabella Roversi.
II. COMMUNITY MYCOLOGY AND OUTREACH: This is a new category of awards, intended to promote education, outreach, and artistic projects and activities that will raise awareness and accessibility of fungi, particularly for members of groups that are underrepresented in mycology. We are thrilled to be able to support three awards in this category:
Lisa Huang MS RD
Lisa is a dietician and nutritionist who is working with Chartwells K-12 (an education dining services provider). Her proposal, “Mushroom Growing with Brockton Public Schools” will use mushroom grow kits to teach elementary school students about fungal life cycles, while providing nutritious, locally grown food, and a lesson in self-sufficiency.
Joshua Winer
Joshua is a mycophile and professional artist who has produced hundreds of public artworks throughout the Boston area and surrounding towns. With BMC support, Joshua will lead two communal, participatory workshops in his studio in Waltham to create a large mosaic mural for public display that depicts various fruiting body mushrooms, with characteristic habitats and natural elements.
The Clark University Mycology Club
The Clark University Mycology Club is a group of undergraduate and graduate students from diverse disciplines (not all science!) who share a passion for fungi. The club will use BMC funds to support free educational events, including cultivation classes,guest speakers and outreach within and beyond the University community in Worcester, MA.
Kamilo Santana
III. Research Awards: We made one award in this competitive category, to Kamilo Santana, who is a recent graduate of the University of North Carolina in Wilmington, where he databased and updated the taxonomy of a 1000-specimen fungal collection, including his own additions to the fungarium. Kamilo has family roots in Ecuador, where he is now conducting fieldwork on fungal biodiversity with BMC support. He has a position as a Visiting Researcher at the Museo Ecuatoriano de Ciencias Naturales del Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad (INABio) in Quito, and is also working with the University of Guayaquil. Next year, Kamilo plans to enter a graduate program in mycology in the USA. The BMC is delighted to support the work of this promising young mycologist.
The BMC has offered scholarships and other forms of support in the past, including funds for courses at Eagle Hill in Maine, but this was the first year that we put out a call for awards in the three categories listed above. The response was very strong, and we look forward to even more interest next year. BMC members who would like to apply for awards, or who wish to support the program, should feel free to reach out to members of the BMC Grants and Scholarships committee for information.
Respectfully submitted,
David Hibbett
Madeline DeDe-Panken
Jana Harris
Melissa Dubois