I’ve been learning and teaching at Evergreen for over 30 years, including 6 years as an academic curriculum dean. I'm trained as a mycologist with a focus on wood-decay fungi and edible mushrooms. I teach mycology, ecology and biology, along with human biology and anatomy and outdoor leadership/wilderness medicine. Experiential teaching and the ability to teach intensive field-based programs is what has kept me at Evergreen.
Prior to Evergreen, I worked as a consultant in the specialty mushroom industry and wrote The Shittake Growers Handbook. In 2015, I traveled to Guatemala to work with local mushroom growers as part of the USAID Farmer-to-Farmer program. My research interests include wood decay fungal taxonomy and small-scale mushroom cultivation systems. I love learning and sharing that enthusiasm with students.
Education
Ph.D., Botany and Plant Pathology, Oregon State University, 1985; B.S., Forest Entomology, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, 1978.
Teaching Style
I believe in the power of a learning community to support all learners and enjoy pushing learners out of their comfort zone into the zone of learning. Much of what holds us back from learning is fear, especially fear of making mistakes. I see my work as helping learners make better mistakes than they would make on their own. As a systems thinker, I particularly enjoy helping learners observe and fine-tune their individual learning systems.