Taye Bright Mycology Interview

Dr. Ayman Daba interviews Taye Bright, a mycologist with a fascinating background and story.

Visit her website to learn more:  www.symbiiotica.com

 

Taye’s Bio:

I am an applied mycologist, ecological regeneration practitioner, educator, artist, writer and medicine-maker orienting my life’s work around how to be in healing, reciprocal relationship with our respective ecologies and create life-ways in alignment with bioregional intelligence.

Inspired from a young age by the beauty and complexity of life on Earth and my role within it, I spent and continue to spend my time asking questions and intently studying the pulsating dynamics of the ecologies that surround me, from the micro to the macro. This deep-seeded and seemingly insatiable curiosity eventually led me to earn a BS in Biology and Environmental Science from the University of Central Florida with a focus on marine biology. I went on to earn certifications in Permaculture Design and Ecosystem Restoration Design, and a California Naturalist Certification. It was when I moved to California in 2017 that I began to intently study fungi.

• What initially sparked your interest in mycology and studying mushrooms?

I grew up in the sub tropical climate of western Florida on the wildlife-urban interface of a sprawling suburb. Many of my childhood years were spent exploring the cypress swamps and old growth live oak woodlands beyond the fences. In Florida, the fungal diversity and abundance is truly astounding, albeit very under-studied, so it wasn’t hard for me to get to familiarize myself with many faces of fungi while regularly meeting new ones. I recall it quite clearly, before I knew who fungi were (scientifically speaking), before I knew their names or what ecological gifts they offered, I felt a sense of kindredness, of recognition, of sentience. I spent a lot of time outside alone when I was young and the fungi became my dear companions and friends. This sense of kindredness has never dissipated and almost 20 years later I continue to be inspired each and every day by their incredible, cryptic lifeways, their profound teachings and perennial companionship. During my undergraduate in biology, I never had the opportunity to take a class on fungi and they were rarely mentioned in my courses, thus I didn’t know that mycology was even a path of study.  When I moved to California in 2017, I was quickly introduced to many communities of folks through local mycology clubs and organizations who were devoting their lives to fungi and even making careers out of it! It was a groundbreaking realization to me that I could do the same. Initially, I was entranced by fungi’s remediative capacities, both in terms of the biodegradation/biotransformation of pollutants (mycoremediation), as well as all of the ecological functions they perform such as global-scale biogeochemical cycling and the myriad symbioses they engage in, specifically the formation of mycorrhizal associations. I was also captivated by fungal food and medicine(s) and how humans have related to fungi for millennia (the study of ethnomycology). I have since devoted my life to fungi, and I still am interested in all of these aspects of mycological study 7 years later! 

 

 

• What specific area of mushroom research or study are you currently focused on?

I am currently focused on a couple aspects of mycological inquiry including but not limited to: conservation, biogeography, fungal ecology, fungal bioremediation and ethnomycology. I work for the Fungal Diversity Survey as a field mycologist studying the fungal diversity and biogeography in the state of California. By documenting, collecting and sequencing fungi from around the state, we aim to create a comprehensive database about California’s fungal diversity and abundance to ultimately inform future research and conservation policy. I am also co-coordinator for the west coast rare fungi challenge, where we focus on 20 select species of rare, threatened or under-documented fungi and encourage community scientists’ engagement in helping to find and document them! This effort also helps to inform the conservation status of these species and ultimately, the protection of the ecosystems they call home. 

I am also a post-fire bioremediation researcher on a project called FENiXS (Fire Ecology Network in Cross-Site Study). Funded by the Wildlife Conservation Society, we are studying the effects of different sources of microbial and fungal inocula on the degradation of toxins and ecosystem recovery after catastrophic mega fires in the wildlife urban interface. I collaborate with other bioremediation organizations including the Maui Bioremediation Group and smaller bioregional organizations like Bay Area Applied Mycology and CoRenewal. I also do a lot of small, at home mycoremediation experiments to help generate data and move the field forward. 

I have always been interested in the relationship between humans and fungi, both historically and contemporarily. I have intently studied and continue to study the medicinal functions of many fungi, focusing on the lesser known medicinal fungi of the Pacific Northwest. Recently, I have taken a deep journey into the ancestral uses and perspectives of fungi in Iceland, Norway and Sweden, places of my ancestry. 

More than anything, one of my main areas of focus is mycological education. I teach classes, facilitate workshops and lead walks all around the country, from college classrooms to community gardens and strive to make education about fungi accessible outside of conventional academia. I teach through my LLC, Symbiiotica, as well as mycological organizations and clubs and local conservation organizations.

 

 

 

• What are some common misconceptions about mushrooms that you often encounter, and how would you address them?

I think one of the most common misconceptions is that it is dangerous to touch certain mushrooms. This just isn’t true! There is one fungal species that has been reported to cause contact dermatitis upon touching (Podostroma cornu-damae, the poison fire coral mushroom) but these claims are highly contested. I think the fear of touching mushrooms comes from a long and shadowy line of mycophobic narratives that stem from the European renaissance as well as other non-point sources. It is perfectly safe to touch mushrooms! In fact, in all of the classes and walks I teach I highly encourage it, as well as smelling and even tasting (always making sure to spit out whatever you taste if you don’t know the ID). It is imperative to engage our full sensoria when getting to know fungi, it is these sensorial nuances that often separate species which look very similar visually. I have very intentionally rubbed Amanita phalloides (death cap) on my face in front of a crowd of people just to prove this point, and to elicit a humorous reaction in people. 

Another misconception I often hear is that molds are bad. Well, some molds can produce mycotoxins which can be harmful for human health. However “molds” (a term which applies to a wide variety of fungal species including members of Zygomycota, Ascomycota, and Basidiomycota) are ubiquitous, existing in every ounce of soil and water on this planet, drifting in the air you are breathing right now. And MOST molds are incredibly ecological beneficial! I think many people are only exposed to “toxic black mold” or the green fuzzy fungi growing on your forgotten loaf of bread (Aspergillus, Penicillium, Fusarium, Mucor, and Rhizopus) which sours the entire grouping of these mold-like fungal organisms. Molds are ALSO responsible for antibiotics (penicillin coming from the green mold, Penicillium) as well as many of our cheeses (Penicillium roqueforti, ring a bell?) and other fermented edible delights like tempeh!

 

 

• What do you find most exciting or fascinating about the world of mushrooms, and why?

When considering this question, I think it’s important to look beyond just mushrooms (the often ephemeral sexual reproductive structure of the fungus) and deeper into the fullness of the fungal realm. We often don’t focus on what we cant see, but it is what we cant see, that which exists just beyond the boundary of the soils surface, that holds the most magic. What does the whole fungus offer that the mushroom alone doesn’t? This being said, I think one of the most fascinating things about fungi, at least the filamentous ones, is one of the basic concepts that one usually learns in their first introduction to fungi. Their form. The endlessly anastomosing and branching and ultimately unpredictable layout of their bodies. The evolutionary brilliance of this decentralized body form has given fungi unparalleled abilities to do what it is we are all made to do: to seek, to find food, water, mates, to communicate, to exchange, to relate. Imagine your body split into a tentacular array, each of your parts able to extend far beyond what you could imagine, and each of those parts interdependent, yet able to function in a unified totality sending information, nutrients, chemical stimuli to other parts, to form intimate, interspecies associations, to act as a bacterial highway for soil microbes. It is from this form that so many of fungi’s miraculous functions come; their ability to decompose more rapidly and effectively than just about any other organism, their ancient associations with the roots of most plants, arguably acting as the first “porto-roots” before plants knew how to root down themselves, their ability to reallocate nutrient pools, water, and terraform the terrestrial earth. 

 

 

• Could you share a particularly memorable or groundbreaking moment in your research or work with mushrooms?

I sat with this question for a long while, rummaging through the filing cabinets of my memory for riveting stories and monumental moments. And then I realized, every moment feels like a groundbreaking moment when working with fungi. Every day when I am out in the field there is an opportunity to find something that has never been observed before. That’s the gift of paying such close attention to the natural world and its endless emergent properties.

However, If I were to elaborate on one of the more substantial moments in my work, it would have to be the first time I physically met pyrophilous fungi. I was working on a burn site in Lake County CA that had just been severely impacted by the Lake fire in the August lightning complex of 2020. The landscape was ashen; white, black and gray as far as the eye could see. Towering old growth oaks were left as charred skeletons, shadows of their former green glory. As we walked the property, there were still active fires burning in hollowed out logs. As we walked further, we saw that there were some wet spots seeping from the hillside and went to further investigate. There were at least 4 new springs seeping from the earth and in the moist trail of these seepages, an orange coating blanketed the soil. What was this? Upon closer look I could see that it was fungal! Pyronema spp. are some of the first signs of biological life to come back after a fire. They are an obligatory pyrophilous fungus (meaning they don’t grow outside of fire conditions) and are the kickstart to ecological succession after such immense disturbances. Recent studies by Fischer et al. have found that Pyronema domesticum can actually metabolize pyrolyzed organic material (pure carbon burned at high temperatures aka charcoal), they help to re-stabilize the soil, increase water retention, and then when they die their very bodies become a source of nitrogen for the reestablishment of plants and other fungi. I had read much literature about these fascinating phoenix-like fungi, but seeing them in person doing what they do felt like a miracle. I have been intently researching and documenting them ever since, even starting the first iNaturalist project dedicated to pyrophilous fungi and illuminating their enigmatic lifeways. I hope to continue my studies in a PhD program looking into relationships between fire and fungi.