Paul Stamets is probably the world's best known mycologist. He has discovered four new mushroom species, and is considered a hero to anyone in the field of amateur mushroom cultivation for inventing many of the common techniques used today. Stamets is involved in a conservation effort called the Rainforest Mushroom Genome Project, whose goal is to preserve and clone as many mushroom species in the Pacific Northwest as possible, before the forests they inhabit are destroyed. Stamets maintains the online mycology supply store Fungi Perfecti (www.fungi.com) to finance his conservation efforts.
Published Works:
Psilocybe Mushrooms and their Allies, 1982
The Mushroom Cultivator, 1984
Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World, 1996
MycoMedicinals (46 page pamphlet), 1999
Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms, 2000
Distinctions:
1998 Bioneers Award from the Collective Heritage Institute
1999 Founder of a New Northwest Award from the Pacific Rim Association of Resource Conservation and Development Councils