Maria Pinto: Fearless, Sleepless, Deathless – Book talk at the Belfast Free Library
Maria Pinto is coming to Maine! Unfortunately, her trip schedule is too packed to join us on a mushroom walk, but anyone who is interested should attend her book talk at the Belfast Free Library! We will ask Maria to visit us in the future.
Do you love learning about mushrooms? Ethnomycology? Black history? Caribbean culture? Literary nonfiction? If you’re answering yes to any of these, mark your calendar for these events this weekend.
On Friday, May 15 at 4:30pm Maria Pinto will be at the Belfast Free Library to talk about her recent book. On Saturday, May 16 at 3pm Rockweed Center will host a writers’ workshop with her.
Maria Pinto is a Boston-area writer, mycophile, and educator who was born in Jamaica. She offers a stunning debut book that uncovers fungal connections between the natural and human worlds, mingling research, memoir, and nature writing, touching on topics ranging from Black farmers’ domestication of truffles, to the possibility that enslaved people wielded mycological poisons against their enslavers. Join her in pursuit of beautiful, perplexing, delicious, and deadly mushrooms as she explores this understudied kingdom’s awe-inspiring diversity and discovers how fungi have been used by people, especially those on the margins, for survival, pleasure, revelation, and revolution.
Events hosted by MIRC, Rockweed Center & Dory Learning Center. Reserve a seat here.
NEMF 2026 Registration Now Open!
We’re excited to share that registration for the Northeast Mycological Federation (NEMF) Foray 2026, happening Thursday, July 30 – Sunday, August 2 at Pennsylvania State University in Mont Alto, PA is now open!
The foray organizers have lined up a great roster of faculty and workshop presenters, including Dr. Cathe Aime, Colin Domnauer, Noah Siegel, Hannah Huber, and more! The area around Mont Alto boasts a number of incredible walk locations, and the Mont Alto campus offers plenty of space for all of the fun.
To register, visit 2026 Foray | Nemf. For ticket pricing and details, visit Ticket Details | Nemf.
NEMF also offers scholarships to the annual foray- details can be found at Homola Scholarships | Nemf.
The Maine Mycological Association also offers a scholarship! Please reach out to one of the MMA directors to apply!
NAMA’s 2026 Annual Foray will convene in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula aka “the U.P.” or Yoop!
Start: Thursday, August 27 at 3:00 PM —- End: Sunday, August 30 at 11:00 AM
At the Northern Michigan University (NMU) Northern Center in Marquette, Michigan
NAMA’s 2026 Annual Foray will be held on the shores of the Great Lake Superior in Marquette, Michigan. This area is known as the Upper Peninsula or “U.P.” and residents proudly call themselves “Yoopers;” our event’s name is an homage to this charming colloquialism.
Join hundreds of your fellow mycophiles amid thick forests during the prime foraying season by day, then return to the modern Northern Center for presentations, meals, socials and the evening programming we all enjoy together.
The annual NAMA foray includes all these activities. You can choose what you want to do each day:
- This year we have 14 individual guided mushroom forays on Friday and Saturday to collect fungi, which are brought back to the event for ID and “vouchered” for the permanent collection of The Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. Forays are 3 hours long for nearby locations, or 4 to 6 hours long for locations further away. Transportation to and from forays will be self-driven; we will encourage carpooling.
- 6 locations for self-guided forays to collect fungi that are available the day before the event starts, enabling you to get into the woods right when you arrive in Marquette.
- 18 presentations about fungi and related subjects. This year covers many topics such as remediation, insects that use fungi, invasive fungi, photography, medicinal fungi, conservation, dung fungi and many more!
- 8 workshops ($25 fee) for a hands-on experience in culinary and other arts or science.
- Keynote presentations for all attendees after dinner:
- Thursday: Chief Mycologist Tavis Lynch introduces us to the U.P., and Dr. Amy Honan shares fungal science updates.
- Friday: Dr. Anne Pringle describes how communication and education about fungi has improved.
- Saturday: Dr. Britt A. Bunyard, editor and publisher of FUNGI Magazine, amazes us with stunning photography and fungal facts.
- Catered lunch and Dinner for all attendees. Boxed lunches will be available for those going on walks.
- Social events with mushroom tastings, hors d’oeuvres, fungi mixology and vendors.
- ID table walkthroughs with the Voucher Collection Project team to review the fungi found each day.
- NAMA membership is required to attend this foray.
- Clink this link to register
Upcoming 2026 MMA Events
Myco-consortium Talks & Pop-Up Events throughout the year (Check emails from Emma or Tom for Details)
POP-UP Foray!! This Sunday May 11, 2026. Whitten Hill Preserve in Montville at 11AM. Bring a loupe and a snack if you’re savvy….212 Halldale Rd, Montville, ME 04941. With all this rain, this may bring out some interesting fungi!
POP-UP Foray!, May 10th in Edgecomb (Exact Location and time to be Sent to Members via Email)
Foray, June 20th in Portland (Exact Location and time to be Sent to Members via Email)
Foray, July 12th in Hartland (Exact Location and time to be Sent to Members via Email)
🌿 MMA iNaturalist Project
The Maine Mycological Association now has an iNaturalist project—a place for members to share and explore fungal observations together! If you use iNaturalist, we’d love to have you join. Add your finds, browse what others are seeing, and help build a collective picture of Maine’s fungi. Once you’ve joined, your observations can be included automatically.
Maine Mycological Association 