Michael Beug taught chemistry, mycology and organic farming at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington for 32 years. His proudest accomplishment was a two-year research project (1973-75) with colleague Steve Herman and 40 Evergreen students, instrumental in the banning of DDT use in North America. Michael is a member of NAMA where he served ten years as Editor of the Journal McIlvainea, Chair of the Toxicology Committee, and member of the Education Committee. He received the 2006 NAMA Award for Contributions to Amateur Mycology. He is also active with the Pacific Northwest Key Council; a group dedicated to writing macroscopic keys for the identification of fungi. In addition to his new book, Mushrooms of Cascadia: An Illustrated Key (Fungi Press, 2021), he coauthored Ascomycete Fungi of North America (University of Texas Press, 2014). His photographs have appeared in over 80 publications. He regularly writes for McIlvainea, The Mycophile, and Fungi Magazine. Michael prepared over two dozen presentations about mushrooms for NAMA. In 2017, Paul Stamets of Fungi Perfecti, created the Mike Beug Scholarship, in honor of the professor who helped shaped Stamets’ career.
His most popular talks are: 1) “Should I have Eaten That?”, a talk featuring both poisonous and edible mushrooms and how to avoid dangerous mistakes; 2) “The Unusual Mushrooms of Cascadia”; 3) “Psilocybe Mushrooms as Entheogens”. He has several talks focusing on Ascomycetes in general or on morels in particular, and general talks on spring or fall mushrooms.
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