During this presentation Rachel will speak on the practical side of getting started in mushroom identification and foraging as well as the anecdotal with stories of foraging fails and successes. Like Rachel, there are many others who don’t come from the world of academia yet mushrooms have captured their curiosity. It can be thrilling yet overwhelming to start from zero knowledge as an adult (umm, what is a pileus and how to do you say that word?). Even though everyone has a different learning style, the love of mushrooms can bring us all together, so Rachel would like to present to you the talk she wish she had received as a novice mushroomer. From the anatomy of a mushroom, the harvesting method quandary (cut vs pluck?), the age old question “is it edible?” to the more ethereal awe and wonder side of fungi. Rachel hopes to help beginners feel at home and more equipped for the hunt, while giving the old timers some chuckles as they recall their own mushrooming beginnings.