My construct of what an excellent mycology expert would be has the following criteria:
#1. real credentials, but not a novice who hasnt had enough experience to make bad toxic choices,yet
#2. Old enough with enough experience to have died had he/she made a serious mistaken determination of toxic
#3. Not so old as to be having dementia, as fungi are migrating and changing all the time, and short term memory is needed to cope with changing biofungomes
#4. Is a local expert with connections to other locals! Like real estate, edible collecting is all about location location
The local society is like 50 folks. I dony know of a festival, but I havent been looking for super-spreader events lately. I have never been sick from schrooms, but Im very particular about IDs. I use microscopes to study pore prints and spore morphology, and get anything im uncertain about confirmed by experts. My liver is one of my 8 favorite organs and dont want to hurt is with mushroom toxins, though other toxins are frequently tested
