Our Guest Speaker for the 20th June 2019 Permaculture Noosa Club Night will be Sandra Tuszynska. Her presentation is titled “Fungi – the Superheroes of Our Future“. Sandra Tuszynska is Woodfordia’s Environmental Projects Officer and a soil microbiologist with a special interest in fungi and their wondrous mycelium. For her PhD  research, Sandra studied the cellular mechanisms of tree symbiotic root fungi and their ability to detoxify heavy metals. This allowed her to understand the power of fungi as nature’s feeders, regenerators, protectors and innovators. As a passionate public speaker and educator, Sandra hopes to inspire others to work with fungi and all the other super organisms which support life on Earth. FUNGI: THE SUPERHEROES OF OUR FUTURE Fungi munch on rocks and wood, creating soils and nourishing all life forms. Root symbiotic fungi form the gifting economy of the Wood Wide Web; the sophisticated network which connects and feeds the world, through intimate relationships with the smallest of bacteria to the largest of trees. While some feast on pollutants, others provide renewable resources from agricultural wastes – there are no limits to what these superheroes can do. Further information about Sandra’s work: At Woodfordia, as Environmental Projects Officer, Sandra oversees the Forest Woodfordia venue at the Woodford Folk Festival and The Planting, promoting land and habitat restoration projects engaged by Treehuggers who volunteer their efforts on monthly basis https://woodfordia.org/environmental-projects/ https://woodfordia.org/apply/join-the-treehuggers/ https://www.facebook.com/forestwoodfordia. From October 2019, Sandra will be leading The Mycology Research Project at Woodfordia, which will train citizen scientists to study, research and contribute data on the taxonomy and ecosystem function of Queensland fungi. The project is designed to raise awareness about the benefits of mycology (the studying of fungi); and make this science easily accessible to the Queensland community. http://woodfordia.org/the-mycology-research-project/

You can view her slideshow HERE.
You can listen to her talk, click HERE.