Well another year is winding down. October brings autumnal weather and is usually the cut off point for collecting fungi. In many ways, seeing the end of the season is a relief. The Fall is usually a time of reflection. It’s a time to look back on the past year and all the moments and experiences it provided. It’s a time to appreciate the transition from hot summer months to cool breezes and nature’s preparation for winter dormancy. But perhaps most importantly, it’s an opportunity to take an accounting of the future and what role we personally want to play in it.
In so many ways there’s reasons to welcome the end of 2020. However, I’m grateful that I got the chance to serve as your CMS president. Despite the coronavirus putting involuntary limits on forays. Despite the severe drought and burning forests. Despite all of this year’s challenges, I’m proud that the CMS was able to re-invent itself and provide some mycology content and education. How many people even knew Zoom was a thing at the beginning of 2020? I didn’t. Now I feel like a semi-pro. Because of Zoom, we put on an online Mycology Exposition in August. All of this was recorded and now is about to make it’s way onto YouTube. In fact the first two videos of the Expo are already available on the CMS YouTube Channel.
In addition to this, we have recordings for the Zoom Seminars from Greg Sanchez, Dr. Brian Perry, and Jeff Ravage. Each one of them expolor a variety of mycological topics from mushroom folklore, to fungal bioluminescence, to conservation using mycoremediation. These videos, along with the excerpts from the Expo will be available on the CMS YouTube Channel before the year’s out.
But the season’s not over yet. There’s still one more meeting on October 12th. We are proud to have Dr. Alisha Quandt from CU Boulder present for us on the topic of insect pathogenic fungi and how they engage in mind control.
It’s also important that you show up to the last meeting because it’s the time CMS members to vote in new board members. Voting will be different from previous years because we’ll need to do it all over video chat, but tune in and we will provide instructions on how to let your vote be heard. Regardless we will need to vote in a new President-Elect at the vary least, but we also need to find someone willing to serve as Vice President.
Lastly, we’re always looking for new members and volunteers. If you can please let yourselves be known be either myself, or our incoming president Jon Sommer.
Thank you very much for letting me serve as your President. It’s been a strange year. In many ways there were tasks I wish I could have done better with, but for the most part I’m quite humbled that we were able to get through this year together and reflect proudly on what we did get accomplished.
Whatever happens, I’m looking forward to 2021 being a better and brighter opportunity for mycology in Colorado.
Cheers,
Andy Wilson
2020 CMS President