Keynote Speaker: Sam Shoemaker

Poster Design: Beverly Salas (@beverlysalas)

Program: "Mushrooms From the Grotto to the Moon"

Talk by Philip Ross

In this presentation, Philip Ross will describe his experiences at MycoWorks and Open Fung in creating mushroom mycelium as an applied material for fashion industries and beyond.

Program: "Megafires, Floods and Fungi"

Talk by Maya Elson

With the rise of catastrophic megafires and flooding, we look to fungi and other microbes as nature’s mediators between fire and water. They sink carbon, retain water, prevent erosion, digest toxins, and establish ecological balance in both pre and post fire ecosystems.

Program: "Truffles in the sky: A Fungal Tale of Climate and Chance"

Talk by Carolina Piña Páez, PhD

What happens to fungi when forests migrate?

Program: "Southern California Lichens: Monitoring, Conservation, and Community Science"

Talk by Lauren Jonker

Lichens are one of the most overlooked yet essential groups of organisms in our landscapes. Neither plant nor moss, lichens are living partnerships between fungi and photosynthetic partners that thrive in some of the harshest environments on Earth.

Program: "Fungal responses to wildfires"

Talk by Arik Joukhajian, PhD

Fire and fungi have long since been spoken of together, from oral traditions to 19th century publications on post-fire flushes of ascomycetes.

For the 2026 LAMS Mushroom Fair on February 15, 2026

Program: "Fungal biodiversity of contaminated sites in Los Angeles County & Implications for Bioremediation"

Talk by Danielle Stevenson, PhD

An overview of the fungal diversity of contaminated sites across LA County

Program: "Mycology, Bioart, and the Future of Science Education"

Talk by Ann Marie Macara, PhD

What if students discovered that science is as creative a field as art?

Keynote Speaker: Else Vellinga
Program: "Fascinating Mushroom Spores"

Poster Design: Carly Lake (@sea.lake)

Program: "How Fungi Perceive And Defend Against Microbial Competition"

Talk by Grace Stark, PhD

Fungi and bacteria drive the global cycle of nutrients, providing a myriad of important services to their ecosystems.

Program: "The Final Frontier of Marine Life: How Fungi Shape Our Seas"

Talk by Syrena Whitner, PhD

Fungi are ecological miracle workers within terrestrial ecosystems, harboring the ability to shape food webs and drive nutrient cycles as both parasites and mutualists.