In 2001, he began his studies in the field of mycology, beginning with the fungi of California. Since then, he has traveled to various countries to collect and study mushrooms and has photographed more than 1,000 species of fungi from Mexico and 1,000 species from California. Through phylogenetic and microscopic analysis, he has identified several species not described in the scientific literature.

Alan regularly identifies mushrooms for several fungus fairs in Mexico and the USA in addition to identifying fungi on websites such as Mushroom Observer, iNaturalist and Facebook.

His work has been recognized by The Washington Post, Ars Technica, Smithsonian, San Francisco Chronicle, VICE, Dallas Observer, Arizona Daily Sun, Chicago Reporter, Smoky Mountain News, Benzinga, Ancient Origins, The Union of Grass Valley, Interesting Engineering, KCRG, Filter, Yahoo Finance, Marijuana Movement, East Bay Express, Boulder Weekly, Scientific American, The Verge, Mother Nature Network, Discover Magazine, Social News Daily, International Business Times, Newsweek, iNews, CBC Radio, and TreeHugger.

CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGER

Mandie Quark, the self-proclaimed Mushroom Madman, walked barefoot to receive her Bachelor’s in Chemistry from a tiny eclectic Honors College situated on a historic Maryland river in 2007. She spent the first part of her career studying molecular biology in academia, meanwhile culturing a healthy fascination with mycology on the side.
For more than a decade Mandie worked as a biomedical research scientist in Philadelphia at a Top-100 Hospital. There, while earning her Masters degree in Biochemistry from the University of the Sciences, Mandie preformed high throughput screening in a chemical genomics lab. Mandie made the decision to hang up her academic lab coat in 2018 to pursue an alternative career path. Mandie enjoys taking macro photos of mushrooms and explaining the mysteries and complexities of molecular mycology to the public. She has been a featured guest on many podcasts. Her series of advanced classes for mycologists were well received by the community. In 2023 Mandie started several new collaborations and is extremely excited about what her future in fungi holds.
Molecular Mycologist·  16+ Years Experience with Molecular Methods · Science Writer and Creative Communicator · International Mycology Event Organizer ·Keynote Speaker since 2016 · Macro Photographer and Field Scientist · North American Mycological Association Committee Chair · Masters in Biochemistry from University of the Sciences· Creator, Designer, and Web Builder of mycena.llc·

Dr. Gordon Walker has a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from UC Davis, where his graduate research focused on wine microbiology, yeast physiology, and fermentation. A full list of his peer reviewed academic publications can be found on his Research Gate Profile.

After receiving his doctorate in 2016, Gordon worked at Opus One Winery for two harvests, isolating wild yeast for wine production and establishing redox potential as process parameter for the wine industry. He completed his post-doctorate work with Dr. Ron Runnebaum at UC Davis, where they published on using Redox Potential as a process parameter for winemaking. He currently serves as board member for the Sonoma Mycology Association (SOMA) where he oversees the academic and community scholarship program.