I’m joined by Giuliana Furci, mycologist, and founder of the Fungi Foundation, the world’s first non-governmental organization for the protection of fungi. Giuliana has over 20 years of fungi research experience and was recently awarded the National Geographic Conservation Leadership Award, making her the first mycologist ever to receive the honor.

In our conversation, Giuliana reflects on her path to becoming an expert in fungi research and advocacy. She describes some of the intense expeditions that she’s been on over the course of her career, as well as how the process for field research has changed since she got started in the late 90s. Giuliana is a champion for fungi recognition within legal conservation and protection frameworks, including leading the Fungi Foundation initiative for the word ‘funga’ to be an equivalent term to flora and fauna.

Giuliana and I also discuss the life lessons that she’s gained from working with fungi, like the beauty of the interdependent nature of living organisms. We talk about the current mainstream collective consciousness of the power of fungi and why they’ve gone largely unnoticed in the past. Plus, Giuliana shares the expeditions, collaborations, and exciting projects happening at Fungi Foundation.

To find out more about Giuliana and the incredible work that she is doing with the Fungi Foundation, check out the links below.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Topics Covered:

• Challenges that Giuliana has run into as a mycologist in Chile
• Guiliana’s top recommendations for identifying a mushroom
• Recognizing the integral role that fungi plays in nature and humanity
• Larger lessons and metaphors that Giuliana has extracted from working with fungi
• How Giuliana is working to bring free fungi education to children around the world

Resources Mentioned:

• Fungi Education
• Fantastic Fungi
• Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures by Merlin Sheldrak

Guest Info

• Learn more on the Fungi Foundation website:

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