June 10th, Monthly Meeting: Fungal Collections of the UBC Herbarium

Greetings VMS! And a big welcome to our new members from the Spring festival..

Apologies for the late announcement this month, I promise this one is worth the wait!

Fungal collections at the UBC Herbarium: Overview and recent developments
Presentation by Justin Ngo
7pm Tuesday, June 10th @ Floral Hall (5251 Oak St.)

Justin Ngo is one of two Curatorial Assistants under Karen Golinski at the Bryophyte, Lichens, and Fungi Collections at the UBC Herbarium, located in the Beaty Biodiversity Museum. He graduated from UBC with a Bachelor of Science studying predominantly plant biology, though many of the courses he has taken as an undergraduate student have touched upon the immense physiological and molecular complexity of the fungi. Having worked at the UBC Botanical Garden and the Temporal Ecology Lab in Forestry before beginning this position, he has had experience in handling delicate botanical material and managing large databases.

The UBC Herbarium in the Beaty Biodiversity Museum holds more than 91 thousand accessioned dried fungus and lichen specimens, serving as a key resource for fungal and lichenological research, university education and public outreach. The two collections, which emphasize B.C. specimens, are housed in 90 specially-designed cabinets in a unique, publicly-accessible space. Specimen cabinets are punctuated by stunning displays, including shadowboxes illustrating a species of Cortinarius named for Oluna Ceska, and an artful presentation of the Sherman Brough lichen-dyed wool collection.

UBC is part of a global effort to increase the visibility and usability of herbarium collections by making data and images available online through publicly-accessible data portals. We deeply appreciate the pioneering efforts of Dr. R.F. Scagel, who initiated the process of recording UBC specimen metadata in 1981. With the assistance of student and community volunteers, we have made substantial progress in processing a large backlog of specimens. Soon, with the help from mycological community members, we will start uniting specimen records with images from the Mushroom Observer and other sources to further facilitate biodiversity discovery and appreciation.

Doors at 7, Talk at 7:30

As always, we would love to see your specimens at our monthly mushroom table for identification and admiration. Be sure to check out what unique Spring finds are at the May display.

Love the talk? Your VMS membership allows you to access an archive of several past talks on our website for your marathoning pleasure. As always, masks are encouraged in indoor spaces and for all in-person events!

VMS is still hybrid and we would love to see you virtually if you can't make it in person! You can join us live through Zoom and there will be a Zoom recording in our members' archive:

Topic: June Meeting
Time: Jun 10, 2025 07:30 PM Vancouver
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86901348247?pwd=BtbfWFUh8Ywynx2jlzxllQom1ioj22.1

Meeting ID: 869 0134 8247
Passcode: 641695

We are pleased to officially announce the VMS Discord Server – an additional community space for you to hang out with and learn from your fellow mushroom enthusiasts.

Logged in VMS members can view vanmyco.org/discord and join the server

New Blog Posts: Detailed histories and more!

Stuck inside? We've got lots of new articles for you to read. Enjoy!

A History of Mushroom Cultivation in BC - by Paul Kroeger

Four Decades of Vancouver Mycological Society: How mushrooming in BC has changed - by Paul Kroeger

Health and safety issues concerning commercial marketing of Edible Wild Mushrooms in British Columbia - by Paul Kroeger

BC’s Truffle Industry: The Next Frontier is Underground - by Rosi Hunter

Get on our Instagram feed

Spotted a cool mushroom? Share it with the club (and the world) by using the hashtag #vanmyco. Your pictures will automatically appear in the feed below.

Please note: this is not an identification service, but a way for club members to easily share their unique vision of fungi.