Peter McCoy speaks on behalf of the fungi, the most overlooked and misrepresented organisms in the web of life. As an interdisciplinary, systems-oriented mycology educator, Peter is considered one of the most prominent voices in the modern mycology movement. His work is widely regarded as pioneering in the topics of accessible mushroom cultivation and mycoremediation, while his in-depth mycological knowledge has also elevated his voice to one of the foremost in the less-explored fields of fungal evolution, fungal communication, and the history of fungi in human cultures. He teaches mushroom cultivation and applied mycology.
Peter is the co-founder of Radical Mycology, a grassroots mycological advocacy organization and social movement.
He published Radical Mycology: A Treatise on Seeing & Working With Fungi to share his accumulated skills, experiences, and knowledge. The book’s depth, breadth, and perspective on the science, applications, and cultural importance of mycology have been praised as among the most significant contributions to these fields in the 21st century. Prominent reviewers have hailed the book as the most important and comprehensive text on fungal ecology, mushroom cultivation, mycoremediation, and medicinal mushrooms written to date, and a milestone for the progress of mycology as a people’s science.
Aware of the global need for accessible mycological education, Peter founded MYCOLOGOS to share his extensive knowledge of fungi with others around the world. A lover of the outdoors, his hands-on and environmentally conscious approach to working with fungi is a direct response to decades of exploring, foraging, and living in the fungi-rich Pacific Northwest of the United States.
Peter’s unique work has been featured in various news and media outlets, including Yes!, Salon, GOOD.is, Grist, Vice, and The Survival Podcast. He has been featured in the documentary films Fungiphilia Rising and Fantastic Fungi. He has taught mycology to tens of thousands of people across North American and Europe, including at The North American Mycological Association, The Telluride Mushroom Festival, The Permaculture Voices Conference, The Village Building Convergence, The Breitenbush Herbal Conference, and The National Brownfields Conference.
Peter is the lead mycologist at MycoCycle, an applied mycoremediation firm based in Chicago, Illinois, as well as the mycology advisor to Open Source Ecology and The Permaculture Student.
