About Fungi Academy
Our Mission
Fungi Academy exists to empower and foster deeper connections by unveiling the magic of fungi.
We bring together a global community of mycophiles, creating a space where fungal wisdom can be grown and shared.
By exploring the mysteries of fungi, learning from them, and embracing their transformative power, we aim to inspire personal growth, strengthen our bond with nature, and collectively shape a more harmonious world.
Fungi Academy is an alliance between humans and fungi that inspires us to live in balance with each other and our environment
Why Fungi?
Fungi and Mushrooms play a fundamental role in healing ourselves, the global community, and our planet Earth as a whole. Fungi are an elder species, helping humanity to become more mature, responsible, and conscious
Fungi are the hidden orchestrates of life on Earth, silently shaping ecosystems and fostering interconnectedness among all living beings in our world. They are the archetypes of connection and teach us the importance of collaboration and the power of community.
Fungi hold the solutions to so many problems humanity is facing today, they hold the secrets to ecological restoration and creating a more sustainable future. By understanding and harnessing the wisdom of fungi we can unlock sustainable solutions in our agricultural industries, waste management systems and create a more harmonious world.
We work to make mushroom education accessible and easy by connecting a global community and empowering them to grow and share fungal wisdom.
Who We Are
Fungi Academy is an international collective of passionate earthlings, united by our shared love and belief in the power of fungi. We are dedicated to empowering individuals and cultivating connections through unveiling the magical world of fungi.
Since 2016 we have been dedicated to making mushroom education accessible and easy for everyone and connecting a diverse global community of mycophiles. We are driven by our love of fungi and heart-centered mission to empowers individuals to unlock the transformative potential of fungi to connect deeper with themselves and the natural world.
We hope to spread the mushroom wisdom around the globe and inspire others to take action in their own communities. Together we can cultivate a deeper understanding and appreciation of these magical beings. As well as foster connections that transcend geographical boundaries and united in a shared mission to create a better future.
Meet the Team
We are a team of mycophiles dedicated to spreading the wisdom of the fungal queendom with the world since 2016.
Founder
OLIVER MERIVEE (1984-2020)
Estonia
hyphae headmaster
Jasper is a mycologist and educator. With 12+ years of mushroom cultivation experience and over 2500+ students taught since 2019, he illuminates the intricate world of Fungi with passion and expertise.
Jasper has co-created over 20+ educational experiences & retreats on top of countless in-person workshops and classes he has taught all over the worldWith a penchant for interdisciplinary collaboration, he cultivates diverse communities of learners, empowering them to explore the symbiotic relationship between fungi, people, and their environments.
Jasper degenaars
Netherlands
queen psilocybe
Karena a multifaceted mushroom mama with a passion for wellness, movement, and community living in Lake Atitlan, Guatemala. With almost a decade of yoga teaching and fitness training, she blends her past life as a wellness blogger and influencer into her current endeavors. Operating Fungi Academy is her labor of love, she cultivates spaces for growth, connection, and transformation. While skilled in event organizing, social media marketing, and project management, her true passion lies in curating sacred journey spaces. Recently trained as a birth doula, she extends her support into the realm of birth work and prenatal yoga, further expanding her capacity to support and empower others on their most sacred medicine journey, motherhood.
karena beana
USA
mushroom mama
Milly is the Mushroom Mama of Fungi Academy and the founder of As We Grow, an Australian-based organization dedicated to teaching fungal education. Milly has an Honours degree in Biology and spent nearly a decade traveling the world, working as a research assistant and vet nurse for conservation projects. Her journey led her to Fungi Academy, where her passion for Fungi truly took root. Now in Australia with her family, Milly continues to expand mycelial networks by sharing the magic of mushrooms and fostering community through connection and hands-on learning. She's deeply passionate about women's work and empowering mothers to connect and support each other on their journeys.
milly raven
Australia
Video & Photo
Corie left Ottawa, Canada, after completing a Bachelor Degree in Anthropology. Having always had a call for adventure in her heart she travelled the world for 3 years and finally creating her home in Guatemala.
Corie has worked since 2020 to share the fungal wisdom with the world through video production, photography & web design.
In her personal work she specializes in portrait and lifestyle photography, creative director, web designer and visual brand identity.Corie bidgood
Canada
graphic designer
Since a young age, Geegee has been drawn to creative arts & technology. She completed her Advanced Diploma in Graphic Design & Communication at College in 2014.
Leaving Aus early 2017 to the Americas she unexpectedly found her soul family from around the globe with similar passions, lifestyle goals & way of being.
Now, 5 years later she still finds herself nestled on the shores of Lake Atitlan,creating the life she never knew she so deeply desired, being constantly inspired by the creative, supportive & empowering community around her.
GeeGee luna
Australia
VIDEO EDITOR
Tz'utu Kan is an artist, member of the acclaimed Balam Ajpu group, who is changing the notion of Mayan poetry in contemporary arts. His music includes native sounds and electronic beats, creating a unique sound. Tz'utu has shared his music around the world.
Tz'utu is one of the greatest painters on Lake Atitlan and a video editor & filmmaker. His personal work aims to spread wisdom of his culture and works at Fungi Academy helping to spread the fungal wisdom.
tz'utu kan
Guatemala
Digital Community Manager
Kayla is from the Sonoran Desert, Arizona, but her love for fungi truly began in a small Alaskan village when she tasted a perfectly prepared King Oyster mushroom. Since then, she has become fascinated with all facets of the fungi kindom, especially ethnomycology and fungal ecology.
Kayla graduated with a Bachelor’s in Journalism and thrives when telling stories and building community. She can often be found volunteering at a local farm, hanging with her husband and dog, exploring nearby forests, or experimenting with fermentation and mushroom cultivation.
kayla frost
USA
Cosmic Community Manager
Richard is a self taught mushroom farmer who started learning about the craft of cultivation in late 2018. Utilizing YouTube university and the websites Shroomery and Mycotopia he was able to learn the ins and outs of growing medicinal, edible, and sacred mushrooms.
Coming Lake Atitlan Guatemala in 2021 he meet many other mycophiles. It was then he realized his passion for teaching about mushroom cultivation and decided to join the Fungi Academy team. He now works as a teacher and community manager. He also offers personal consultations to support people with their mushroom cultivation endeavors.
Richard olson
USA
Myco Lab Assistant
Maria is our local mushroom cultivator. A pro at growing oysters and reishi, she has even started to work in Cordycep cultivation.
Maria started her mushroom cultivation journey at Fungi Academy in September 2021. Her work brings her connection with the mushrooms and pride when she sees the results of her work.
What excites her about her work is the people who come and want to learn about mushroom cultivation and the connection she gets to build with people around the world.
María Yaxón Pérez
Guatemala
Our Collaborators
Community building and collaboration are at the core of our mission. Just like the mycelial network sharing information and resources, working together allows us to tap into a collective
pool of knowledge and experiences.
By bringing together passionate mycophiles from various backgrounds, we are able to offer comprehensive educational experiences that encompass different perspectives and insights. We create a space for exchange of ideas, practical experience and inspiration.
Together with different mycologists, educators, cultivators and heart-led leaders we are raising awareness of the incredible potential of fungi and fostering a deeper connection with the natural world.
Educator & researcher
Darren is an educator, researcher and event organizer based in the UK. Known around the world for his Shroomshop Master classes he is keen mushroom cultivator and teacher and has been growing gourmet and medicinal mushrooms for the last ten years.
Collectively his work aims to inform and empower individuals from diverse backgrounds to cope with social challenges and contribute to community development as well as self-improvement in an innovative, creative, culturally-aware style.
Darren springer
UK
Multidisciplinary citizen scientist
William Padilla-Brown is the founder of Mycosymbiotics, a social entrepreneur, citizen scientist, urban-shaman, and author of the Cordyceps Cultivation Handbook.
Due to his and Ryan Paul-Gates’s innovations Cordyceps Cultivation has become accessible to the masses! With their low tech, easy techniques people all over the world are able to grow cordyceps mushrooms.
He uses his platform to propagate expertise in mycology and permaculture and inspire other citizen scientists to use fungi to better the planet.
william padilla-brown
USA
author, psyconaut & occultist
Julian has explored many of the techniques humans have used to access the hidden dimensions of reality. He has worked in ceremonies with practitioners from many traditions. Julian is the author of numerous books, essays, journals, and articles in both the academic and esoteric press.
A co-organizer of the psychedelic conference Breaking Convention and is a trustee of The Psychedelic Museum Project. A regular speaker at conferences and workshop leader, Julian facilitates psychedelic ceremony and provides one-to-one psychedelic integration sessions and support.
julian vayne
UK
teacher, editor, writer
Sam is a mushroom cultivator, teacher, and award-winning journalist from the United States.
Experienced in building laboratories and fruiting rooms, he has grown and foraged close to 20 species of gourmet, medicinal, and sacred mushrooms. Founder of Mindful Mycology and educator of mushroom cultivation in the U.S. and at the Fungi Academy campus.
With a passion for low tek, bare bones cultivation, Sam hopes to spread the message and provide the knowledge that anyone can cheaply and sustainably grow nutritious, therapeutic, and medicinal mushrooms in their home.
In the past year 18 months, he’s built a laboratory and fruiting room in his home, cultivated and foraged over 20 species of gourmet and medicinal mushrooms, started a medicinal mushroom tincture business, and returned to the Fungi Academy to teach his techniques to students.
Sam blackstone
USA
cultivator & educator
She moved to San Diego in 2018, where she grew psilocybin mushrooms in her closet and eventually felt a strong calling to dive deep into working with fungi. Shortly after, she studied mycology under mentor Ivo Fedak, who is owner of a gourmet and medicinal mushroom farm called Mindful Mushrooms. Natalia currently works as CEO of Mindful Mushrooms, as well as with Mycology Psychology as an educator, providing microdosing education and support.
Nathalia Gosiaco
USA
GOAL WHISPERER
Gabe is a personal development coach & facilitator helping mission-driven humans live in alignment with their purpose.
He left his tech job to travel the world by bike, and in the process found his calling in coaching. He's been working with the Fungi Academy leadership team since 2019.
You can learn more about Gabe's work, his story, and connect with him at his site www.effectiveconnection.comGabe derita
USA
Breath work facilitator & yoga teacher
Sima Karimian
UK
Cultivator, medicinal mushroom magician
Mart is a mushroom cultivator, and medicinal mushroom magician, owner and founder of Foodsporen. Mart works to bring the vitalizing power of medicinal mushrooms to the world through his work.
mart Stoffele
Netherlands
sacred space holder
Maz holds a BA in environmental studies and anthropology, completed the Alchemical Herbalist program at the School of Evolutionary Herbalism, 200hr yYTT, and 2 years of Oracle Arts Apprenticeship with the Academy of Oracle Arts.
Maz is a multidisciplinary practitioner using divination, ritual, herbalism, and astrology with her clients. She leads group programs that weave together magic, science and microdosing.Maz is dedicated to weaving deeper relationships between humans, their souls, the earth, and the cosmos.maz alice
Canada
