The Mushroom Hunting in the Mid-Atlantic
Hello and welcome to the Mushroom Hunting in the Mid-Atlantic Study. My goal is to better understand mushroom hunters in our region- from how people learn to about mushroom hunting to what mushrooms people hunt for. Thanks to everyone who participated in the survey! As the research from this project is published, updates will be posted here!
Presentation with Penn State Extension: Forest Farming Webinar Series
I'll be presenting the findings of this project with Penn State Extension on Thursday, June 27th from 6:30-8pm! If you can't make that time, register to get a recording and watch it later! You can register HERE!
​
This research update is part of a larger seminar series focused on Non-Timber Forest Products, which mushrooms are apart of! If you want to learn about other Non-Timber Forest Products, check out the other seminars in the series, as well as the seminars from last year!
The Project
This project began shortly after the start of the COVID pandemic in March 2020. I began to hear about how more and more people were interested in mushroom hunting- but was that actually true? And if it was, then why? There is very little formal research on who hunts for mushrooms in this region, what species are harvested, and what folk's concerns are for the future. This might seem like a lot of common sense, but the lack of formal documentation makes it hard for research groups and land managers to work with mushroom hunters!
​
And so this project began! This project became a full dissertation at Penn State University, and will be available to read in the coming months. Mushroom hunters shaped the project itself, which grew to discuss how community science is a huge component of the mushroom hunting community in the Mid-Atlantic, and how government policies on public lands impact mushroom hunters. Keep an eye on this page for links to the published chapters in the future!
​
​
.png)
About Me
My name is Amy Wrobleski, I am a graduate student at Penn State in the fourth year of my PhD in Ecology. I am interested in how people use foraged foods, both plants and mushrooms, and how foraging shapes the environment that people live in. I'm also an artist and enjoy drawing fungi and plants! The illustrations on this page were drawn by me.
​
While I grew up with family stories of hunting for mushrooms in Poland and Michigan, I did not start hunting for edible mushrooms and plants until more recently. I started to hunt for edible plants while working in northern Michigan about six years ago, and I started to hunt for mushrooms at the beginning of the pandemic! I'm always excited to learn about the plants and fungi in PA!
.png)
