Join Merlin Sheldrake, author of 'Enchanted Life' for an hour of conversation and Q & A about the secret and exuberant lives of fungi. Along with Sustainable Systems faculty member, Oliver Kellhammer and course coordinator Arta Yazdanseta, we will explore the amazing potential of fungal mycelium as both an inspiration and a working material for sustainable, regenerative and resilient design. We'll start out with a short presentation by Merlin, and a brief follow-up by Oliver detailing some of the mycelium work being done at Parsons followed by a panel discussion and then open it up to Q&A from students and faculty during the second half. You can submit questions in advance here.
About the Speakers:
Merlin Sheldrake is a biologist and Sunday Times bestselling author of Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds, and Shape Our Futures. He received a Ph.D. in tropical ecology from Cambridge University for his work on underground fungal networks in tropical forests in Panama, where he was a predoctoral research fellow of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Merlin’s is a keen brewer and fermenter, and is fascinated by the relationships that arise between humans and more-than-human organisms. Find out more at merlinsheldrake.com, or follow him on Instagram (@merlin.sheldrake) or Twitter (@MerlinSheldrake).
Oliver Kellhammer (he/him/his) is an ecological artist, educator, activist and writer. Through his botanical interventions and public art projects, he seeks to demonstrate nature’s surprising ability to recover from damage. His practice is to catalyze the processes of environmental regeneration by engaging the botanical and socio-political underpinnings of the landscape. The work continues to evolve and has taken such forms such as an urban biomaterials plantation, the founding of Canada's first public inner-city permaculture demonstration site, reintroducing prehistorically native trees into landscape impacted by climate change, and restoring eroded railway ravines. Part of the Dear Climate collective he is also co-authoring a book about postindustrial ecologies. Oliver is based in Alphabet City and rural British Columbia and is a part-time lecturer in Sustainable Systems at Parsons.
RSVP HERE
Resources
The future is fungal: why the 'megascience' of mycology is on the rise
Whether You’re Making a Meal or Cleaning an Oil Spill, There’s a Fungus for That
Why the hidden world of fungi is essential to life on Earth
Entangled Life (Introduction Chapter)
TED TALK: How mushrooms can save the world