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• DNA Lab Day @ Mount Rainier Nature Center

  • When
    15 Feb 2026
  •  
    10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
  • Location
    Mount Rainier Nature Center, 4701 31st Pl, Mount Rainier MD
  • Registered
    Be the first

  Register

  
  

  Join us at Mount Rainier Nature Center at 10am to bring your mushroom samples or at 1pm to ask questions about our process or anything fungi. Our experts are excited to see you! Mark your calendars!

  Mount Rainier Nature Center is located at 4701 31st Place, Mount Rainier MD, 20712

  If you are bringing samples to us, please ensure that the samples have been properly documented on iNaturalist, and that each of your samples has a unique iNaturalist observation number by the time of your arrival. Follow the process below to make your observation:

  MAKING AN OBSERVATION

  PHOTOGRAPH BEFORE DETACHING!

  • Take more than one picture
  • Show where the fungus is  growing from (substrate)
  • • If attached to something living, identify as much as possible. Ex: conifer, deciduous, oak, american holly, etc.
  • Photograph the habit (growing alone, gregarious, in clusters, etc.)
  • Take a picture from the top

  DETACH

  • Take a picture of the underside
  • Cut through the spore producing surface and notice if there are changes in color or secretion of latex. If so annotate and photograph
  • Add any smell or bruising you observe in the notes section

  PREPARING SAMPLE FOR DNA EXTRACTION

  • Place the mushroom on a coffee filter, piece of paper, or wax bag
  • Write the voucher information: date of collection, location, name of collector, field ID (Russula, Bolete, Agaricus, etc) and iNaturalist observation number.
  • Place your sample inside its voucher bag in a dehydrator at 100° until it is dry as cardboard. The timing of his process will vary depending on the size of the mushroom.
  • • If you don’t have a dehydrator, you can place the mushroom in your oven using its lowest setting and leaving the door of the oven cracked with a clothespin. Check on this setting every hour to prevent burning or cooking the specimen.
  • Once the specimen has been dried, wait for it to cool to room temperature and place the voucher bag and the mushroom inside in a closed ziplock bag to prevent rehydration with humid air. 

  Once you have a dried specimen inside a bag labeled with your name, location, date of collection, iNaturalist observation number, and approximate ID, you are ready to bring the sample to us
  

  In the link below you’ll find the slideshow used for the training on how to make observations and how to label your sample bag to serve as a voucher as well.

  https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/18N69qmR7zaUbveKunJVO6vcwY1hSQoYobPJFaUd2HDk/edit?usp=drivesdk
  

  We will receive your properly documented sample with our deepest gratitude 

  We are excited to see you there!

  -Serenella Linares, Programs Chair & Megan Romberg, Science Advisor
  The Mycological Association of Washington, Inc.

  Show details
• MAWDC February Meeting, IN-PERSON, featuring Gabrielle Cerberville

  • When
    15 Feb 2026
  •  
    3:00 PM - 6:00 PM
  • Location
    Mount Rainier Nature Center, 4701 31st Place, Mount Rainier MD 20712
  • Registered
    63 registrants

  Register

  
  

  Let's get together IN-PERSON! Mark your calendars and REGISTER for this unique opportunity to meet Gabrielle Cerberville, @chaoticforager, Author of the newly released book, Gathered! 

  The meeting will be held at Mount Rainier Nature Center.
  

  • Our President, Tom McCoy will start us up with meeting business
  • In-person ID table! Bring your mushrooms (or lichens) and learn their identity from our team of identifiers!
  • Culinary Chair, Cindy Connelly Ryan, and the committe will delight us with a hospitality table
  • Enjoy a riveting lecture by Gabrielle Cerberville

  Book description: 

  From “the Internet’s Mushroom Auntie,” a stunning, illustrated guide to foraging and the bounties to be had, both personal and edible, in exploring the world around us and using the gifts it has to offer in our lives.

  
  

  With this book as a guide, readers will learn to find, identify, harvest, and process wild food to use in their own kitchens and develop a greater kinship with the natural world. A memoir with recipes, color photos, and illustrations throughout, Gathered is an invitation to move beyond our comfort zones, open our eyes, and dig into the earth.

  
  

  Bio: Gabrielle Cerberville, otherwise known as Chaotic Forager and sometimes as the Internet’s Mushroom Auntie, is a celebrated foraging educator, community mycologist, and climate advocate based in the Charlottesville area.

  Known for her informative, funny, high-energy social media content, which has gained her nearly two million followers across platforms, Gabrielle has given keynotes, classes, and forays around the country. Gabrielle researches the intersection between art, science, and our responsibility to understand, protect, and communicate with the natural world

  See you all there!

  Show details
• Nature Game Night at Mount Rainier Nature Center

  • When
    04 Mar 2026
  •  
    6:30 PM - 9:00 PM
  • Location
    Mount Rainier Nature Center, 4701 31st Pl, Mount Rainier, MD 20712

  Join us for a special Nature Board Game Night with Elizabeth Hargrave, creator of the award-winning game Wingspan. Play Mariposas, Undergrove, Wingspan, and other nature-inspired games that celebrate ecology and biodiversity. This engaging evening is perfect for both seasoned gamers and curious newcomers. Come enjoy thoughtful play, community, and a shared love of the natural world.

  Activity for people 18+ years old. 

  Price: $10(R), $13(NR)

  Registration will open in February, 2026

  For questions please contact: Serenella.Linares@pgparks.com

  
  

  Show details
• DNA Lab Day @ Mount Rainier Nature Center

  • When
    22 Mar 2026
  •  
    10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
  • Location
    Mount Rainier Nature Center, 4701 31st Pl, Mount Rainier MD
  • Registered
    Be the first

  Register

  
  

  Join us at Mount Rainier Nature Center at 10am to bring your mushroom samples or at 1pm to ask questions about our process or anything fungi. Our experts are excited to see you! Mark your calendars!

  Mount Rainier Nature Center is located at 4701 31st Place, Mount Rainier MD, 20712

  If you are bringing samples to us, please ensure that the samples have been properly documented on iNaturalist, and that each of your samples has a unique iNaturalist observation number by the time of your arrival. Follow the process below to make your observation:

  MAKING AN OBSERVATION

  PHOTOGRAPH BEFORE DETACHING!

  • Take more than one picture
  • Show where the fungus is  growing from (substrate)
  • • If attached to something living, identify as much as possible. Ex: conifer, deciduous, oak, american holly, etc.
  • Photograph the habit (growing alone, gregarious, in clusters, etc.)
  • Take a picture from the top

  DETACH

  • Take a picture of the underside
  • Cut through the spore producing surface and notice if there are changes in color or secretion of latex. If so annotate and photograph
  • Add any smell or bruising you observe in the notes section

  PREPARING SAMPLE FOR DNA EXTRACTION

  • Place the mushroom on a coffee filter, piece of paper, or wax bag
  • Write the voucher information: date of collection, location, name of collector, field ID (Russula, Bolete, Agaricus, etc) and iNaturalist observation number.
  • Place your sample inside its voucher bag in a dehydrator at 100° until it is dry as cardboard. The timing of his process will vary depending on the size of the mushroom.
  • • If you don’t have a dehydrator, you can place the mushroom in your oven using its lowest setting and leaving the door of the oven cracked with a clothespin. Check on this setting every hour to prevent burning or cooking the specimen.
  • Once the specimen has been dried, wait for it to cool to room temperature and place the voucher bag and the mushroom inside in a closed ziplock bag to prevent rehydration with humid air. 

  Once you have a dried specimen inside a bag labeled with your name, location, date of collection, iNaturalist observation number, and approximate ID, you are ready to bring the sample to us
  

  In the link below you’ll find the slideshow used for the training on how to make observations and how to label your sample bag to serve as a voucher as well.

  https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/18N69qmR7zaUbveKunJVO6vcwY1hSQoYobPJFaUd2HDk/edit?usp=drivesdk
  

  We will receive your properly documented sample with our deepest gratitude 

  We are excited to see you there!

  -Serenella Linares, Programs Chair & Megan Romberg, Science Advisor
  The Mycological Association of Washington, Inc.

  Show details
• DNA Lab Day @ Mount Rainier Nature Center

  • When
    26 Apr 2026
  •  
    10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
  • Location
    Mount Rainier Nature Center, 4701 31st Pl, Mount Rainier MD
  • Registered
    Be the first

  Register

  
  

  Join us at Mount Rainier Nature Center at 10am to bring your mushroom samples or at 1pm to ask questions about our process or anything fungi. Our experts are excited to see you! Mark your calendars!

  Mount Rainier Nature Center is located at 4701 31st Place, Mount Rainier MD, 20712

  If you are bringing samples to us, please ensure that the samples have been properly documented on iNaturalist, and that each of your samples has a unique iNaturalist observation number by the time of your arrival. Follow the process below to make your observation:

  MAKING AN OBSERVATION

  PHOTOGRAPH BEFORE DETACHING!

  • Take more than one picture
  • Show where the fungus is  growing from (substrate)
  • • If attached to something living, identify as much as possible. Ex: conifer, deciduous, oak, american holly, etc.
  • Photograph the habit (growing alone, gregarious, in clusters, etc.)
  • Take a picture from the top

  DETACH

  • Take a picture of the underside
  • Cut through the spore producing surface and notice if there are changes in color or secretion of latex. If so annotate and photograph
  • Add any smell or bruising you observe in the notes section

  PREPARING SAMPLE FOR DNA EXTRACTION

  • Place the mushroom on a coffee filter, piece of paper, or wax bag
  • Write the voucher information: date of collection, location, name of collector, field ID (Russula, Bolete, Agaricus, etc) and iNaturalist observation number.
  • Place your sample inside its voucher bag in a dehydrator at 100° until it is dry as cardboard. The timing of his process will vary depending on the size of the mushroom.
  • • If you don’t have a dehydrator, you can place the mushroom in your oven using its lowest setting and leaving the door of the oven cracked with a clothespin. Check on this setting every hour to prevent burning or cooking the specimen.
  • Once the specimen has been dried, wait for it to cool to room temperature and place the voucher bag and the mushroom inside in a closed ziplock bag to prevent rehydration with humid air. 

  Once you have a dried specimen inside a bag labeled with your name, location, date of collection, iNaturalist observation number, and approximate ID, you are ready to bring the sample to us
  

  In the link below you’ll find the slideshow used for the training on how to make observations and how to label your sample bag to serve as a voucher as well.

  https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/18N69qmR7zaUbveKunJVO6vcwY1hSQoYobPJFaUd2HDk/edit?usp=drivesdk
  

  We will receive your properly documented sample with our deepest gratitude 

  We are excited to see you there!

  -Serenella Linares, Programs Chair & Megan Romberg, Science Advisor
  The Mycological Association of Washington, Inc.

  Show details
• Nocturnal Blooms at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens

  • When
    06 Aug 2026
  •  
    8:00 PM - 10:00 PM
  • Location
    Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, 1550 Anacostia Ave NE, Washington, DC 20019
  • Spaces left
    35

  
  

  This walk is offered FREE thanks to the support of the National Park Service

  The National Park Service represented by Park Ranger Jodi Bucknam, in collaboration with Mycologist Serenella Linares, and naturalists Ana Ka’ahanui & Matt Felperin invite you on a unique opportunity to see the water lily blooms at night! Witness nighttime sounds, nocturnal pollinators, fluorescence, and other wonders of the dark. Bring a reusable water bottle, a charged phone, closed toe shoes, and dress for the weather.
  

  Address: Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, 1550 Anacostia Ave NE, Washington, DC 20019

  REGISTRATION REQUIRED! Spaces limited!

  Registration will open the last week of July

  Organized as a collaboration of:
  Prince George's Department of Parks and Recreation, NOVA Parks, Capital Nature, National Park Service, & The Mycological Association of Washington DC

  If you are trying to register, and it's full, please join the waitlist. We monitor it frequently to make spaces available as they come.

  For questions contact: Serenella Linares at programs@mawdc.org

  Show details
• Night walk at Greenbelt Park

  • When
    17 Sep 2026
  •  
    7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
  • Location
    Greenbelt Park, Sweetgum Picnic Area, 6565 Greenbelt Rd, Greenbelt, MD 20770
  • Spaces left
    35

  

  This walk is offered FREE thanks to the support of the National Park Service

  The National Park Service represented by Park Ranger, Edwin J. Rivera, in collaboration with Mycologist Serenella Linares, and naturalists Ana Ka’ahanui & Matt Felperin invite you on a unique opportunity to see the water lily blooms at night! Witness nighttime sounds, nocturnal pollinators, fluorescence, and other wonders of the dark. Bring a reusable water bottle, a charged phone, closed toe shoes, and dress for the weather.
  

  Address: Greenbelt Park, Sweetgum Picnic Area, 6565 Greenbelt Rd, Greenbelt, MD 20770

  REGISTRATION REQUIRED! Spaces limited!

  Registration will open the last week of August

  Organized as a collaboration of:
  Prince George's Department of Parks and Recreation, NOVA Parks, Capital Nature, National Park Service, & The Mycological Association of Washington DC

  If you are trying to register, and it's full, please join the waitlist. We monitor it frequently to make spaces available as they come.

  For questions contact: Serenella Linares at programs@mawdc.org

  Show details