Meeting Monday March 4, 6:30pm, Mary Ann Hawke. How To Be A Citizen Scientist And Help SDMS Document The Mushrooms Of A Biodiversity Hotspot

**** PLEASE NOTE: April meeting has been moved to April 8. (This is not an April Fool’s Joke!) ****

The guest speaker for our March 4th meeting will be Mary Ann Hawke. The meeting will be hosted in Room 101, Casa Del Prado in Balboa Park at 6:30 PM.
We will take Mary Ann to dinner before the meeting around 5:00 at the Blue Water Seafood Grill at 3667 India St.

Mushrooms are popping up all over San Diego thanks to the rain! Take pictures of them, collect them in a brown paper bag, and bring them to our meeting so we can identify what you found! Identifying education begins at 6:30, lecture at 7. See you there!

Volunteers from the San Diego Mycological Society have been archiving mushrooms gathered during their forays at the San Diego Natural History Museum (the Nat) with the goal of cataloging the diversity of mushroom species of San Diego County. Documenting our local flora and fauna is crucial because our region is a global hotspot of biodiversity, yet habitats and species are threatened by wildfire, urbanization, invasive species, and climate change. Come learn how YOU can become a citizen scientist and use the iNaturalist app to participate! You’ll also hear about the DNA Barcoding initiative we’re undertaking, as part of the North American Mycoflora Project.

Please bring in mushrooms you find  so we can get them identified 630-7.

Mary Ann Hawke Ph.D. is a SDMS member, ecologist, and educator who has been spearheading this project in conjunction with the San Diego Barcode of Life and the San Diego Citizen Science Network. Mary Ann was the Director of the San Diego County Plant Atlas and trained 500 citizen scientists to document our local flora.