2013 was a great year for Fungi. Epic rains that started in June and lasted thru August sustained huge fruitings of chanterelles and other mushrooms across North Carolina and the southeastern US. This increase in fungal fruiting is fueling a growing interest in fungi as well. Everywhere, people are really getting into mushroom picking, growing, and just learning about their biology. I was fortunate to teach several mycological classes this year, including a field course at Mountain Lake Biological Station, a mushroom workshop at the North Carolina Botanical Gardens and another on cultivation with Bountiful Backyards (Durham, NC), as well as the regular classes that I teach at Duke in mycology and microbiology. This year’s Mycology class (Bio540) did a great job learning the basics of fungal identification while also keeping up with the latest advances in fungal biology. The capstone of this class, however, was a banquet at the end of the semester featuring some of the student’s favorite mushroom recipes!
