First Friday: Mycology Citizen Science with Rej Butzer at Audubon

First Friday
Mycology Citizen Science with Rej Butzer

Friday, October 2, 2026
11:00 a.m. – Noon (Optional guided walk at 12:30 p.m.)

$8 Adults; $6 Nature Center members
$6 Children 9 – 15
Reservations appreciated, walk-ins welcome.

Join Rej Butzer to learn how citizen science helps us learn more about the amazing world of mushrooms.

Mycology is the study of fungus, including mushrooms, yeasts, and molds. Learn how to become a mycologist assistant through participation in the largest MycoBlitz – a continent-wide mushroom collecting event. Join Rej for lunch at noon and a walk at 12:30 p.m. after the inside program. A Bioblitz is a survey of all the organisms living in a given geographic area. A MycoBlitz is a similar survey, but with the focus on fungi.

Participants work to catalog as many species as they can from the survey area, during the survey period. Photos, notes, and specimens are submitted to a lab for DNA sequencing, which provides the most accurate and reliable identification.

Learn more about the importance of documenting fungus as well as how to participate in the MycoBlitz. No experience is needed to participate in the MycoBlitz. Just the ability to venture outside, find mushrooms, take decent photos with your cell phone, and send a package in the mail. Participation is fun, easy, and you just might collect something previously unknown to science. The fall Continental Mycoblitz runs from October 1 - 11. More information can be found at https://mycomap.org/mycoblitz.

About the speaker: Rej spends much of their time looking at and thinking about fungi and plants. They can frequently be found outside photographing their discoveries, then researching their finds to continue growing their understanding of the natural world. They also learn by teaching, often taking friends on walks to share what they learn with others. Rej has traveled cross country via bicycle from Kentucky to Texas, worked two hunting seasons as a technician with the Fish and Wildlife Department in Montana, and spent three months volunteering at a nature preserve in the Peruvian Amazon. They currently work at Royal Fern Nursery, which specializes in native perennials, trees, shrubs, seeds, and plant propagation, along with consultation and education.

Special Information: If you’d like to bring a packed lunch, you can visit attendees and the speaker after the program. Rej will lead a walk at 12:30 to find and document fungus on Audubon’s property.

Register today at auduboncnc.org/october-first-friday.