Town + Burlington. Technically the watershed of Lake Champlain is what we are ​ aiming for but starting with the hub of Burlington.

State +-Vermont ​ ​

Amount requested +3500 ​

Primary Issue Area + ​

Environmental Health

Describe the group's overall program(s) + ​

The general activities of our group include: improving the lab facility, meeting seasonally, conducting research, educating, cultivating mushrooms in and outdoors, and implementing our findings in surrounding communities. Efforts to improve the lab include adding an antechamber, writing protocols, obtaining lab infrastructure, and inventorying supplies. Travis and Jess currently use the lab. The lab will be open to other community researchers once protocols and construction is completed. We have had two logistic, core member meetings discussing: lab construction, protocols, and group structure. We have had two work parties per season, inviting a larger audience beyond our core group. We are beginning community potlucks. We currently research the potential ability of King Stropharia fungus to destroy E. coli, remediating manure runoff to reduce lake pollution. While this project is primarily through an EPSCoR ​ ​ grant between Mycoevolve and UVM, Vermont Myconode members are learning through volunteering about petri dish transfer, microscopy, and fungi vs. bacteria dynamics. We are cultivating fungi in outdoor beds, indoors in bins of wood chips and pasteurized straw, onto petri dishes, from wild specimens, and through liquid cultures. We are also developing mushroom grow kits, experimenting with hemp hulls, a local hemp farm’s waste product, and compost as substrate. We are attending and hosting workshops on fungi and soil to grow literacy in mycology and soil health.

Describe how your program(s) balance built environment, working landscape and wilderness

We understand that wilderness provides ideal ecosystem balance that needs to be preserved. We go into these areas to learn, ethically harvest, and mostly observe relationships, species’ functions, and network dynamics. The working landscape around us in Vermont has not been modelled after the dynamic equilibrium which governs the wilderness. As a result, caus pollution in the watershed. riparian buffers; no till farms; wildlife corridors; rain gardens;

the ecosystems already in place. The built environment is often harder to change as it is often in place until the next big hurricane, discovery of lead paint, or sewage overflow.Our focus is to replicate as best we can what we have studied in the forest apply ecological restoration practices into working landscapes to simultaneously support the economy and social networks. As these efforts become successful they can be applied to the built environments s in the crisis situations described above.

What does your group propose to do with a Grow grant? +

We aim to improve our research lab ‘GreenMountain Mycelium, identify and strengthen our group capacity, develop our skill sets to a proficient and efficient level, educate through various mediums, and improve the terrestrial and aquatic landscapes of the Lake Champlain watershed.

The Green Mountain Mycelium Lab will host various research projects involving a diverse array of fungal species, store an extensive mycelium library, provide a resource to fungal and microbial scientists, and provide learning opportunities about fungal cultivation and inoculation for students.

Our group will evolve in such a way that the current two guides, Travis and Jess can redistribute some of their responsibilities throughout the group. As we identify each member’s skills, we can expand our current ‘working groups,’ to include:: regenerative economic plans, free curriculum, citizen science opportunities, grow kit recipes, and resilient medicine.

We will continue taking workshops in cultivation and inoculation while experimenting and practicing our current skill set. As we record our findings and compare results with others we can contribute to a growing body of best practices to share while applying this to our next projects.

As we hone in on troubled areas in the watershed and develop corresponding understanding, protocols, and skills we can practice ecological restoration. Tangible places to start include applying fungal mycelium matts to remediate point and nonpoint source pollution from dairy farms, roads, parking lots, and driveways. Currently Shelburne Dairy struggles with downstream beach closures due to high E. coli counts in runoff leaving the farm during high rain ​ ​ events. They are interested in how our current research concerning mycelial mats can inform a future installation of a remediating wetland system incorporating fungi, plants, and trees through topographically aligned swales on the farm’s western edge.

Describe the group's strategy to engage neighbors/community in your work +

The group currently has 28 members. We pass around a sign up sheet at each community meeting, work party, and gathering which includes: name, email address and phone number. We understand not everyone uses acebook so are considering a bulk email tool to send out seasonal reminders once we have a working calendar in place to reach a broader audience. We also intend to print and put up flyers throughout the watershed. We have a working partnership with Burlington Permaculture and various other ecological groups which we cross post with to advertise events. We post in ront orch orum and will begin to also post ads in papers such as . We are pursuing a broader ​ ​ audience via: a fundraiser with local ecological musicians and poets, offering a by donation information workshop through Burlington Permaculture’s education series at various libraries in the county, writing articles for local papers, and continuing to work with Abenaki folks, Intervale, and CSA’s to incorporate fungi into their gardens.

What relevant skills and lived experiences/perspectives do core group members offer that will help with the work? +

Jess Rubin is a licensed educator, scientific researcher, grant writer, mycology student, community collaborator, and permaculture practitioner. Travis Berg is an electrician, mechanic, amateur carpenter, soil science student and Valhalla VT resident farm Manager. William Kinney is a banker with construction experience. Alex McGown is an experienced restaurant worker with construction experience, permaculture knowledge, and homestead access. Jeff Corbet is a farmer with manual labor experience and conservation community connections. Sue Van Hook is a professional mycologist with extensive grant writing and research experience. Hannah Huber is a student, mycology instructor, research technician, and grant editor. Rowan Cignoni is a mycology enthusiast and Burlington Permaculture facilitator. Cat Duffy Buxton is a compost educator and community organizer through VT Healthy Soils Coalition. John Schreiner is a digital media artist and Valhalla VT resident.

Show row weights

Please share the names of key individuals or representatives in your community whose input is needed to implement the project. Who needs to approve, review, advocate, participate for the project to be successful?

What type of trainings/resources will help the group implement the work? +

equity/inclusion

Networking with more diverse populations would help us implement this work more broadly.

fundraising

Training in crowd source funding, regenerative economic models, and fundraising techniques

asset mapping/communications

Mapping assets of our group in a way that is honoring, accessible, transparent, and safe will help us be more efficient with our in house resources

engaging young adult leaders

Networking with local youth programs throughout the county will allow this awareness to spread

group governance/resilience

Helping a collective group with minimal leadership guided by two individuals doing most of the work transition to more equitable role and responsibility sharing

other Cultivation and Mycoremediation Strategies

Training in cultivation: Tradd Cotter of and Ja Schindler of Fungi for the People are offering trainings this coming year which we intend to attend.

Describe how your program(s) prevent and eliminate toxic pollution

According to (Winslow 2013; http://www.middlebury.edu/media/view/452657/original/wqm_final_v3_dm.pdf), since Lake Champlain’s watershed to surface water ratio is much higher than other lakes, the pollution collection area is large compared to dilution capabiltiy. Stormwater runoff spots, chemical dumping flows, point source and nonpoint source discharges are tangible places to apply mycoremediation practices. While ultimately proactive education to cease toxin movement into the environment is a first prong prevention approach, ecological restoration practices in riparian buffers, transportation route margins, and ecotones between impermeable permeable surfaces provide a second prong to prevent toxic watershed bioaccumulation. Multiple combinations of fungal through myco, microbial through bio, and plant through phyto remediating species can denature, transform, or sequester toxins such as petrochemicals, pesticides, herbicides,

chemical dyes, pathogens, and heavy metals. While each toxin has corresponding remediating microbial, fungal and plant species, the research requires tremendous work. For example our current focus on pathogens, though grounded in peer reviewed studies requires new protocol and installation development which we are attempting. Overtime, findings can be applied on a local and bioregional scale. How much money does your group need to fully implement the proposed work? +

i.e. what is the total program(s) budget?

$ 3500.00

Earnings Source Amount

Grow grant NEGEF $3500

Capacity Grant (apply in March) Ben & Jerry’s $4000

Mushroom Grow Kits Vermont Myconode Lab $300

Community Fundraiser Vermont Myconode community $250

5% of workshops we host Vermont Myconode Workshops $80

Total $8,130

Donations Source Amount

Hemp Hulls Local start up $800

Spawn Mycoevolve & Infinity Soils $400

Lab Space Valhalla $2400

280 Volunteer hours (at $15/hour) Vermont Myconode community $4200

Shelves, fridge, desk Community members $600

Total $8,400

Expenses Purpose Amount

Syringes, agar, mason jars, petri Lab supplies to support current $400

dishes, test tubes, scale, magnetic projects stir plate, disinfectant, gloves, lab coats

Beginning Staff 2.25 hours a month Pay current core staff for 1/6 of their $1161 $18/hr Lab Manager = $486 time $25/hr Research Guide = $675

Accessible seasonal workshops To pay presenter and allow sliding $400 (one a season) scale fee

Fliers, newspaper ads, internet Marketing $200 advertising

Plastic, wood, humidifier, heater, Grow Room $1518 environmental controls, shelving

Bags, substrate Mushroom Kits $200

Cultivation & Mycoremediation To build upon our growing skills to $3000 Courses futhur hone our techniques and practices

More books for the library To increase our knowledge and $200 particularly on cultivation and what we can offer to others as well mycoremediation as inform our local projects

Educational Material printing fees To provide labels, informative $400 packets to accompany our grow kits, educative packets to give out at workshops, informative zines and handouts to offer at community events

12 hours of Mycological mentor To help us with design research $600 consulting support ($50/hr) protocols, editing educational materials and grants

Total $8079

Are any materials being donated or is your group receiving any services at a reduced rate? + ​

Yes we have a fridge, table, some lab materials, and pounds of hemp hulls donated.

What did the group spend during the last calendar year? $ 1550 plus 260+ hours of ​ ​ volunteer labor.

Tell us how the group is prepared to manage a Grassroots Fund grant? + ​

Currently, the group finances have been managed by Travis Berg and Jess Rubin through a shared folder including a spreadsheet,Google document with detailed explanations and dates, and pictures of receipts. Jess opened a Vermont Myconode bank account in which all funds earned from grants and events have been stored. Travis tracked expenses using a spreadsheet with an accompanying explanatory Google document in a Vermont Myconode folder titled Financials. We use Paypal to transfer funds from the bank account to make purchases. In October we are having an organizational meeting in which members will choose roles, one of which is treasurer. We will share with the treasurer the folders we have created on Google Drive.

(How) Does your group see its work addressing and/or impacting people, the environment, and the economy in your community? +

Our group can benefit people by connecting them to applied mycology’s healing potential. We work with fungi to improve the environment, grow the ecological economy, and offer people a source of local nourishment. Humans are more closely related to fungi than plants. People become activated with inspired awareness when exposed to the research and fascinating patterns in this lineage demonstrating how partnering with fungi can help our species improve life conditions on earth. Fungi offer abundant gifts such as: food, medicine, appropriate humility, water filtration, restoration, purification, and carbon/nutrient sequestration. As we discover and nurture our working relationship with the Fungi Queendom, collaboration and transformation opportunities multiply. As we saw this summer at conferences, people with various skills find niches within this field to engage across the arts and sciences, in formal academic as well as in grassroots settings. Vermont’s environment, while clean compared to other Northeastern states, suffers from polluted waterways, degraded soils, and fragmented habitat. Incorporating fungi into riparian buffers, rain gardens, farm fields, gardens, and transportation routes allows human pollution to be mitigated and remediated. Partnering with fungi through mycelial mat installation, mycorrhizal applications, stump and log inoculations, forest mycobuffers, and medicinal cultivation can help stimulate the regenerative economy through new job networks.

SHIFTING POWER

Does the group (formally) ask how core volunteers self-identify across race/ethnicity, age, socio-economic level, education, etc? +

Not explicitly

No

Yes

Please describe the demographic make-up of the group (across race/ethnicity, age, socio-economic status, education, etc.) +

Our group has not formally asked core volunteers how they self-identify other than preferred gender pronouns. Our core volunteers are primarily white-skinned, male, lower income, Bachelor Degree - holding 20-30 year olds. While Jess and Sue have Masters degrees and Hannah is in school, the core group majority are trade working males of European descent with low, livable incomes. Our group currently has fewer: women, people of color, and wealthy ​ ​ people. Our wider group is spread throughout Vermont counties while core members live in Chittenden county except one who just moved to a neighboring county.. One member identifies as transgender while others identify with a specific gender. The core group prioritized securing a free workspace, and setting up the lab and reference library

to offer when developing community connections. We are ready to engage the 20-plus people who expressed interest but not yet attended our meetings or work parties, and to extend our network to other circles.

Describe how the core group of volunteers is, or makes efforts to address barriers to participation and be fully representative of stakeholders within the community. +

Vermont Myconode plans to make resources accessible by offering: sliding scale workshops, carpool networks for events not accessible via bus, bicycle or walking, events in diverse neighborhoods, free opportunities to become involved through potlucks, meetings, and work parties. We can empower community members to develop their own food, medicine, and working relationships with fungi through gentle introductions.. Examples of this approach include inviting community garden members to take free spawn from out garden beds to theirs to grow edible fungi, offering seasonal lessons on fungal identification in urban wilds with ethical wildcrafting orientation through the Burlington Masters Naturalist series,, and approaching institutions which serve food such as elder care and schools to see if cultivated mushrooms are an appealing menu option. Various groups which host events throughout the year to populations living in Burlington who we can collaborate with include: Vermont Works for Women, Farmer’s Markets, Intervale Networks which include New Americans and many other self-identified diverse communities, The Family Room, Burlington Permaculture, libraries,, NOFA, and Rural Vermont. We intend to put out both formal and informal surveys to learn both what the public would like to learn and how we can offer it to as many people as possible. We also plan to survey our pool of members to understand more of what they are interested in as well as how to meet them where they are at.

LOWERING BARRIERS TO FUNDING

What barriers does your group face to accessing funding or resources for your work? +

Our group is comprised of low income people who already volunteer significant time in the community. Currently we have not developed a regenerative economic strategy but will this fall. Meanwhile, we are dependent upon grants and our efforts which will include a fundraiser, workshops, and mushroom grow kits. Grants take a lot of time. We intend to invite more members to apply their skills at fundraising to share this burden more equally. It is difficult to find free substrate materials for mushroom cultivation, particularly

wood chips, because Burlington hosts a biomass power plant which many tree companies supply. Similarly most free straw and hay feed animals to endure winter. Without a wood chipper, which the group schemed renting for a day, it is hard to access fallen wood our members know is available for chipping. Since our work involves hours of unpaid experimentation to: get the right substrate, successfully inoculate, and effectively cultivate, much of our progress is slow.

What sources of funding are currently available to your group or is your group actively seeking? + ​

In addition to this, we will apply for a Ben & Jerry’s Capacity Building grant but the deadline is not until March 2019. Our volunteer time is dedicated to maintaining what we have created and growing group capacity. 20 people expressed interest in joining.. We look forward to meeting them this fall through our potluck, meeting, and/or upcoming soil vitality workshop. At this fall’s meeting we will initiate a brainstorm for this group’s regenerative economic strategic plan and invite inspired members to create a working group. We also plan to host a community fundraiser. We will put 5% from workshops back into the pool. The other 95% will cover workshop presenters, materials, and spaces rented. Once we have logistics dialed in to cover workshop necessities, we can put 10 or 15% back into the pool. We are considering creating an economic structure around lab use involving use fees. This is another topic for fall’s meeting and specifically the regenerative economic plan working group.

FLEXIBILITY & RISK-TAKING

Does this project build upon previous or parallel efforts or is it a new organizing

This project builds upon this groups’ efforts started last year, funded by NEGEF and Ben & Jerry’s, Valhalla Vermont, and a lot of volunteer time. We are still building the group’s foundation and growing our capacity. This project is a subgroup of Burlington Permaculture. In both groups, many of our events and members support ecological

restoration and regenerative agriculture interests. Burlington Permaculture covers a vast array of subjects whereas Vermont Myconode more specifically emphasizes the role that fungi can play in supporting these ecological goals. Vermont Myconode can potentially engage with people who may be less interested in ecological restoration but more interested in agricultural production, economic development, or human wellness through offerings focused on medicinal mushrooms and mushroom cultivation. Similarly, Vermont Myconode can support people’s interests in self-sufficiency, as well as community-based sufficiency and development. A concept outlined in Emergent Strategy; ​ Shaping Change, Changing Worlds by Adrienne Maree Brown about building relationships an inch wide and mile ​ deep guides our group in developing community connections that have integrity and multiple points of meeting. This process takes time and cannot be rushed, forced, nor contrived. However when nurtured consistently through solidarity, curiosity, and humility amazing relationships and emergent properties of collaboration and resource sharing naturally arise.

CHANGE VS. CHARITY

What does your group identify as the root cause(s) of the issue you are addressing & how does the group come to understand this? +

Through various group discussions, we agreed in a shared intention: to address the lack of awareness, ​ education, and access to community participation in ecological restoration. The information we have, while as old as lichens colonizing rock circa 900 million years ago, is fairly new in academic, peer-reviewed circles. While a revolution occurs in underground and citizen science communities, the information sharing networks and practices are still embryonic. The New Moon Mycology Summit that three of our members attended (and two of us taught at), was an excellent model of where this work is headed and how it can be effectively supported. The attendee and teacher demographics was diverse economically, racially, educationally, geographically, in gender orientation, and in entry level to the discipline. This concept of ‘multi medium’ is critical to this work’s effectiveness. Our group aligns with Radical Mycology Manifesto Principles in supporting local communities through increased access to mycological information for people of all backgrounds in an egalitarian, all-inclusive manner. This involves demystifying mycology to the general public through accessible events, distributing free media, and enhancing local living systems through well designed installations using non-polluting materials and practices.. While honoring the wisdom of our fungal and human ancestors, our decentralized group will not engage with current systems rooted in exploitation to further the cause.

Does the group plan to measure the impact of its work towards addressing this root cause? +

Yes

What measures does the group use to track?

It has become clear that once we gather this fall, inviting people to organize themselves into working groups, gathering social data will be as important as gathering scientific data. Permaculture educator Dave Jacke teaches that the weakest link in any ecological solution implementation is always in the social fabric of relationships. Our recent discussions identified that foundational issues of social and economic inequity due to historical colonization and imperialism patterns are repeated in how our human species treats the beyond human earth community. In this regard part of our effectiveness will be measured through how diverse our social networks become and how far reaching our practices go. This data will be tracked through the grant committee who can create surveys which will be sent out occasionally to members with potential raffle or other incentive items to encourage participation among those who do not understand the value of sharing their information around these issues.

Are there opportunities for ongoing community and volunteer engagement with your group? +

Ongoing community engagement opportunities with our group increase as we grow capacity. Currently we will host a potluck after fall equinox. This is a free event with carpooling options offered from the Burlington area. These potlucks will continue through the seasons around equinoxes and solstices. We also will continue to invite folks to work parties each season.. Oftentimes we have meetings attached to our work parties which include meet and greet time, Radical Mycology Manifesto reading and discussion, reference library peruse time, “get to know you” activities, and a shared meal. As we develop capacity these opportunities will increase to include workshops, presentations, classes, courses, fundraiser events, and increasing access to the lab. We also will be offering some of our services, once we

hone them, such as mushroom log cultivation using the tools we purchased to various communities around the state who have expressed interest.

PROCESS IS THE PRODUCT

What does your group hope to learn from this project and how do you plan to implement this learning? +

From this project, our community hopes to learn how to: apply effective earth repair practices, support diverse populations to grow fungal literacy in empowering ways, and develop strategies to grow a more resilient, healthy earth-friendly community. More specifically, we hope to learn more about:

- Basic fungal biology and fungi’s role in healthy ecosystems - Efficient mushroom cultivation; how to maintain a minimal ecological footprint in our experiments - Mycoremediation strategies such as mycofiltration, mycoforestry, and myco-gardening - Soil restoration - Collaborating with others already involved in this work (bioremediation in particular) - Implementing closed-loop waste management systems for businesses that produce excessive organic waste (ie. hemp processing, beer production…) - Engaging people with no or deep knowledge in this subject area - Networking with diverse populations that make up the Lake Champlain Watershed

COMMUNITY BASED FUNDRAISING

Does the group have a (long-term) fundraising plan? +

As stated previously, a long term strategic plan via the regenerative economic working group is upcoming. We will earn funding through seasonal workshops and an annual fundraiser. Our lab will collect fees from users to restock supplies. For the long term vision, we aim to fund the lab through selling mushroom kits and potentially spawn. We currently prepare to run mushroom cultivation trials using hemp hulls produced in excess as the waste product of a local hemp oil processing company. This waste product provides a cheap source of mushroom-growing substrate to the local community while also creating a closed-loop waste management system for the hemp company. The trial goals are to find what types of mushrooms grow best on hemp hulls and what type of additional nutrients are needed. Once we have this data we can create a comprehensive plan for managing the hemp processing waste produced as well as provide viable mushroom kits to local communities. This can branch into many possibilities such as: growing gourmet mushrooms to supply local restaurants, schools, group homes... with a local, nutrient-dense menu item. This will hopefully bring in a stable income stream for the lab to provide for the communities around us. The group as a whole, Vermont Myconode, in time likely will bring in money through grant funded research projects and via earth repair installations that we are hired to create once our understanding, knowledge, and skills are honed.

Yes

Is there anything else we should know about this project?

This project supports a grassroots collective involved in citizen science and offers lab space for two small businesses, MycoEvolve and Infinity Soils. Infinity Soils is in its infancy stage. Travis studied soil management techniques with Elaine Ingham for two years and will be certified in summer 2019. Infinity Soils aims to provide regenerative waste management consultation for farmers and local businesses; this will rely on having a professionally run mycelium lab with a well stocked mushroom culture library for various soil applications. Mycoevolve is entering its third year of service offering earthworks, education, and research. MycoEvolve serves various clients in the community, offers workshops and classes, and researches fungi’s role in watershed restoration. Currently Mycoevolve is finishing a project funded through an EPSCoR grant in partnership with the University of Vermont. Its final trials examining King ​ Stropharia fungi’s ability to remediate E. coli from dairy runoff are being conducted in the lab. MycoEvolve intends to ​ ​ ​ continue providing Myconode members direct mycofiltration research experience. This lab allows us to effectively grow out specific mushroom strains and spawn which facilitate regenerative soil building and remediating actions.

With further training and practice, we can facilitate more community land regeneration projects. Other grassroots remediators and activists are welcome to join us in earth repair.