Hey everyone,
******(SELF INTRODUCTION)****** Although this is my first official appearance on the message boards, I've been a fellow observer and wannabe-mycologist-in-training for several months now, and I just want to thank Paul Stamets, RR, and the rest of the community here on the Shroomery for all of the mycology information/advice inspiring me to do what I will now only settle for as both my career and life-long hobby. While I'm quite the tenderfoot right now, I'm striving to one day contribute as much to mycology as the current and past pioneers of our shared obsession.
I find every spectrum of mycology fascinating, but my key interests are: the potential of medicinal mushrooms for preventative nutrition (specifically sports nutrition/cancer research), everything (both classic and innovative) to do with mushroom cultivation, mycoremediation, and aquatic mycology (for innovative cultivation opportunities and/or mycoremediation). *******************************
I am a Marine Biology/Botany major (undergrad) at Auburn University (AL). Auburn is AL's State-funded Agriculture school, and it has a fairly prestigious Biological Sciences program. The only thing Auburn has to offer for Mycology, however, is an introductory course that is only offered every two years. There's no previous mycological research completed at Auburn, with no professors specialized in the field currently, with no foreseen intent to pursue research in mycology. The only professor here who has extensive knowledge regarding to the subject (AKA the teacher of the intro. mycology class) has a nematology background and is educated primarily about mycelium regarding to its role with nematodes.
When I talked to the professor about what I could do regarding mycology at the university (while I wait over a year for that class to open up again), she said that I could possibly do an undergraduate special research topic regarding to mycology and get school credit for it. She suggested that I go to Auburn's Forest & Ecology Preserve, collect a sample of every type of mushroom there, identify/create a taxonomy report with pictures & citations, and also potentially record experiments with strain isolation via agar.
Basically, if I want to learn about mycology at this institution, I'm going to have to do it all by myself. There are no precedents, no real guidance from the staff- all me. Which is not a problem. I view it as a challenge.
The reason I bore you guys with this story is because I want to know if any of y'all have advice regarding to what I can do to best educate myself/my chances at getting to the next step to a career in mycology. Will this project that I undergo do anything to earn any type of "cred" with mycology professors at graduate programs? Unfortunately, transferring at the moment is not an option. My current hope is to wow the professors with an extremely detailed, perfect research topic that can be officially used as a reference for the school, and get several recommendations for when I eventually apply for graduate school (so far looking at UC Berkely and Oregon State- anywhere semi-coastal if possible).
I apologize in advance if I have repeated any threads that I may have overlooked. While I know there are threads discussing mycology opportunities (both affiliated and not affiliated with college), I couldn't find a thread discussing this specific situation. I appreciate your time and insight.
- pWilly
***EDIT: Just as a clarification, when I say pioneering, I'm meaning in regards to the resources here at Auburn. I by no means consider myself identifying mushrooms as general pioneer work.
Edited by pWilly (06/30/12 02:59 AM)
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Quote:
arago said: Stamets makes a big deal about how he was self-educated. As you read and acquire experience, that should, in itself, build your resume. 
Yeah, I remember reading about Stamets pretty much paving his own way. Only problem is mycology in general seems to be (from what I can tell) more supported in the northwest than in the southeast of the U.S. Either way, I guess it doesn't really matter.
Do you think that me taking the initiative to do all of this by myself will look good when talking to professors of graduate programs? And I appreciate your input, by the way.
-------------------- Cultures wanted: P. Stipticus, Enokitake, Cinnamon Cap, Candy Cap, Golden Oyster, and Hen of the Woods. PM me if you wanna trade!
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