Maya Elson – Amazon Mycorenewal
Maya Elson is a teacher, naturalist, mycologist, organizer and lover of the wild. As the Executive Director of CoRenewal and Amazon Mycorenewal Project, she is dedicated to enacting effective and just solutions to environmental and social crises. As one of the founding members of the Radical Mycology network, she’s worked on various fungal cultivation and educational projects in Olympia, WA and the San Francisco Bay area. She’s worked as a campaign organizer with a number of climate justice and wilderness defense struggles over many years. Maya is the founder and a guide for Wild Child Santa Cruz, a nature immersion program for homeschoolers. As an instructor of Mycopermaculture, Fungal Biology, Mycorenewal and Mushroom Identification for both adults and children, she has experience writing curriculum and giving mycology-related workshops. She is currently studying Ecopsychology, leading mushroom hunts and doing rites of passage for young women with Gaia Girls.
Santa Cruz, CA
United States
Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/amazonmycorenewalproject/
Workshop(s)
Workshop 1: MycoPsychology: Embodied Remediation
This experiential workshop explored the ways that fungi can be a part of cultivating inner wholeness, rewilding, and finding our place in our human and ecological communities. We began with a short presentation and group discussion of the many things we can learn from fungal ecology, and how fungi can be integrated into a spiritual practice or healing process. Participants had the opportunity to somatically explore our personal relationship with fungi, and develop our own sense of our gifts to our communities and ecosystems. We ended with an earth-based art ritual based inspired by fungal reproduction, ecopsychology and elemental magic.
Workshop 2: MycoRenewal in Theory and Practice
Fungi, and the humans that choose to practice Mycopermaculture, sustainable mushroom cultivation and Mycomimicry, are challenging the belief that it is our purpose to outcompete other beings. How do we find our place in harmony with our ecosystem and the world of fungi? This workshop gave a theoretical and practical framework for working with our fungal allies, at home and in our communities using real-world examples. We explored basic fungal biology and various techniques of mushroom cultivation, as well as biofiltration and bioremediation with fungi and bacteria. We discussed CoRenewal’s work in Ecuador to clean up oil spills with bacteria and fungi in collaboration with local indigenous communities.
