Latest news with #mycology
CBC
25-05-2025
- Science
- CBC
This researcher wants your help mapping Atlantic Canada's mushrooms
This researcher is fascinated with fungi and he's enlisting the public to find out more about what he calls an understudied life form. Alfredo Justo, who is currently the curator of botany and mycology at the New Brunswick Museum in Saint John, is leading a mission to document every mushroom species in Atlantic Canada. Justo knows it's a lofty goal — that's why he isn't doing it alone. The MycoMap Atlantic Canada Network is open to anyone living in or visiting Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. "The basic steps are quite easy if you are out there, looking for mushrooms," Justo told CBC Radio's The St. John's Morning Show. According to Justo, becoming a "community scientist" is as simple as taking a photo of a mushroom and uploading it along with a description to the project's website and spreadsheet. He will also personally accept any dried specimens found in Newfoundland and Labrador or New Brunswick and then attempt to map its DNA before housing them in the New Brunswick Museum. Mushrooms found in other provinces would be handled by other scientists involved in the project, he says. There are at least 3,000 different species of mushrooms in Atlantic Canada, Justo says, but less than 25 per cent of them have been documented. "We have a good knowledge about plants and big animals like birds or mammals, but mushrooms are very difficult to study," said Justo. "They are very tricky." Tracking DNA would help scientists figure out the exact number and types of species found in certain provinces, and where they thrive. Justo says this province's boreal forest and unique climate makes it home to mushrooms that are not typically found anywhere else. However, he says it's difficult to pinpoint the rarity of a species because of how little information is available right now. He's looking forward to seeing the discoveries people make with the MycoMap project. "It has been, for me, a scavenger hunt that has been going on for over 25 years now," said Justo.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Calling all fungi fans: the New Brunswick Museum needs your help
If you've ever dreamed of being a mushroom scientist, now is your chance. The New Brunswick Museum is starting a citizen science project to document the varieties of mushrooms in Atlantic Canada. Alfredo Justo, the museum's curator of botany and mycology, is leading the project and says he needs help. "This is going to be a big, years-long — if not decades-long — project," Justo told CBC Radio's Information Morning Saint John. "So we need all the help we can get from people interested in biodiversity and citizen scientists." Justo said getting involved starts in the field. "If you see a mushroom that looks interesting, or if you're actively collecting mushrooms, just take some photographs of the mushrooms, keep the mushrooms as if you were foraging. The difference is that you're going to preserve it for scientific study," he said. Justo said the collected mushrooms need to be dried using a dehydrator or fan at 60 C or below for 12 to 24 hours. They can be stored in a small plastic bag and then mailed to the museum. A portion of the mushrooms will become a part of the project's collection, while a small bit will be used for DNA sequencing. LISTEN | Mycology curator explains how citizen scientists can help gather mushroom data: Justo said the project is important because there are a lot of unknowns about the mycology of Atlantic Canada. "Mushrooms are really under studied, especially when we compare what we know about plants or big animals," he said. Justo said there are an estimated 3,000 species of mushrooms in the region, which is double the estimated number of plant species. But, there are only 10,000 mushroom samples at the New Brunswick Museum and 40,000 plant samples, "so, you see the disparity there," he said. "We need to get a lot of collections, just to get to the same baseline data that we have for plants or birds or mammals." Justo said the project will aim to bring our knowledge of fungi at the same level as other species and will help scientists in the future understand changes in the mushroom landscape in Atlantic Canada. "We will be able — in the future — to look back and say, 'Oh, this species was at this place 10 years ago. Is the species still there?'" For more information on the project and how to take part, visit
CBC
25-05-2025
- Science
- CBC
Calling all fungi fans: the New Brunswick Museum needs your help
If you've ever dreamed of being a mushroom scientist, now is your chance. The New Brunswick Museum is starting a citizen science project to document the varieties of mushrooms in Atlantic Canada. Alfredo Justo, the museum's curator of botany and mycology, is leading the project and says he needs help. "This is going to be a big, years-long — if not decades-long — project," Justo told CBC Radio's Information Morning Saint John. "So we need all the help we can get from people interested in biodiversity and citizen scientists." Justo said getting involved starts in the field. "If you see a mushroom that looks interesting, or if you're actively collecting mushrooms, just take some photographs of the mushrooms, keep the mushrooms as if you were foraging. The difference is that you're going to preserve it for scientific study," he said. Justo said the collected mushrooms need to be dried using a dehydrator or fan at 60 C or below for 12 to 24 hours. They can be stored in a small plastic bag and then mailed to the museum. A portion of the mushrooms will become a part of the project's collection, while a small bit will be used for DNA sequencing. Justo said the project is important because there are a lot of unknowns about the mycology of Atlantic Canada. "Mushrooms are really under studied, especially when we compare what we know about plants or big animals," he said. Justo said there are an estimated 3,000 species of mushrooms in the region, which is double the estimated number of plant species. But, there are only 10,000 mushroom samples at the New Brunswick Museum and 40,000 plant samples, "so, you see the disparity there," he said. "We need to get a lot of collections, just to get to the same baseline data that we have for plants or birds or mammals." Justo said the project will aim to bring our knowledge of fungi at the same level as other species and will help scientists in the future understand changes in the mushroom landscape in Atlantic Canada. "We will be able — in the future — to look back and say, 'Oh, this species was at this place 10 years ago. Is the species still there?'"
ABC News
14-05-2025
- ABC News
Patterson trial jury shown CCTV footage provided by tip manager
CCTV footage provided by a tip manager was played to the court in Erin Patterson's murder trial, while a mycologist gave evidence on lunch leftovers.
Daily Mail
14-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Erin Patterson mushroom murder trial LIVE updates: Fungi expert under cross-examination
Fungi expert on death cap mushrooms Mycologist Tom May (pictured below), who is an internationally recognised fungi expert, yesterday told the jury death cap mushrooms can only be found beneath or close to oak trees or trees within the oak family. Dr May, a mushroom expert who was the principal fungi research scientist at the Royal Botanical Gardens, said death caps had a 'symbiotic' relationship with oak trees. The mushroom expert, who will continue answering questions under cross-examination this morning, described death caps as mostly orangey in colour, but could be whiteish or brownish. He said they change their appearance as they matured. Dr May told the jury death cap mushrooms - known scientifically as amanita phalloides - were believed to have been accidentally introduced into Australia from Europe and were first detected in Victoria in the 1970s. He said the mushrooms were 'relatively short lived' in the wild due to wet conditions and insects. Dr May said death caps wouldn't last much longer in a refrigerator due to the fungi being infested with insects that 'keep working away' at the mushrooms. Dr May said there were many publicly available online databases that contained information regarding death cap mushrooms. He said iNaturalist is Australia's largest publicly accessible citizen scientist app for uploading information about fungi. Dr May told the jury you need an account to post information about wild mushroom, but don't need an account to view 'precise location information'. 'You can readily find the location of certain species,' he said. The jury heard a death cap was detected in Loch on April 18, 2023. The doctor said death cap mushrooms have been found in the ACT, NSW and parts of Victoria, including Gippsland towns Outtrim, Loch and Morwell. In Victoria, death caps grow throughout metro Melbourne to the east into the Dandenong Ranges and in the west to Gisborne and Bendigo, the jury was told. Dr May said cases involving death cap mushrooms occured when people ingested the deadly fungi by mistake. Dr May, who published a book in 2021, told the jury toxins found in death caps can be in found other mushrooms. In 2023, one poisoning involved a Chinese tourist who ate a mushroom, became sick, went to hospital, showed early signs of organ failure, but left hospital a week later. In 24 other cases of reported wild mushroom poisonings, patients experienced gastro symptoms, but none involved organ damage. Accused mushroom murderer Erin Patterson, 50, last week witnessed both her children's recorded video evidence. Patterson, who is accused of murdering her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson, after serving them a deadly meal laden with death cap mushrooms, became emotional after seeing video evidence from her son and daughter. Patterson is also accused of attempting to murder Heather's husband, pastor Ian Wilkinson who survived the lunch after spending several weeks in an intensive care unit. The court heard Patterson's estranged husband, Simon, was also invited but didn't attend. Witnesses told the jury Patterson ate her serving from a smaller and differently coloured plate than those of her guests, who ate from four grey plates, the court heard. Patterson told authorities she bought dried mushrooms from an unnamed Asian store in the Monash area of Melbourne, but health inspectors could find no evidence of this. The health department declared the death cap poisoning was 'isolated' to Patterson's deadly lunch. Multiple witnesses including Simon Patterson, Ian Wilkinson and other family members have given emotion-charged evidence to the jury. Medical staff have told the jury of the horrifying symptoms the dying lunch guests and Ian Wilkinson suffered. Patterson's movements at hospital and her abrupt departure have also been aired in court as the trial continues this morning.
