In this video we visit my friend Alan Rockefeller, a man who has dedicated his entire life to the study of wild fungi - their evolution, their phylogeny, their place in the ecosystem of Planet Earth. I've known Alan for 4 or 5 years and have traveled quite extensively with him through Mexico and the Southwest United States. We've found ourselves in some hairy situations as well as some hilarious ones. He is a kind and genuine human being, and humble and giving as hell.
Today, it's incredible to see what he's working on, and also incredible to realize that he never went to school for any of this. He is a champion of advocacy for community, open-source access to education and science, something we desperately need more of in this country. In this nearly 40 minute video we take a look at his lab, some of the species he's studying (lots in the genus Psilocybe), and the work he's doing to educate others and inspire people to realize what can they accomplish and teach themselves even if they don't have access to higher education or the funds to attend those institutions.
Thanks to Alan Rockefeller for his photo of Psilocybe ovoideocystidiata for the video thumbnail.
Your contributions support this content. It sounds clichéd, but it's true. Whether it's travel expenses, vehicle repair, or medical costs for urushiol poisoning (or rockfalls, beestings, hand slices, toxic sap, etc), your financial support allows this content to continue so the beauty of Earth's flora can be made accessible to the rest of us in the degenerate public. At a time when so much is disappearing beneath the human footprint, CPBBD is willing to do whatever it takes to document these plant species and the ecological communities they are a part of before they're gone for good.
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