Paul Stamets in His Natural Habitat: How Active Mushrooms Can Help Save The World

With Tapas by Chef Chad Hyatt

In person in Berkeley, CA & Online - join from anywhere!

Join us on Wed, Mar 31, 2027, in Berkeley, CA (or online) for a fascinating talk with thought leader Paul Stamets and mushroom-themed tapas with popular mycochef Chad Hyatt (sold separately).

Paul’s talk will be a deep dive into active mushrooms, their past, present, and future uses. Journey with him into the active mycosphere as he chronicles milestones that further substantiate how psilocybin, and more so active mushrooms, can help us evolve into the best of what we can be.

Active mushroom cultivation access is scalable and uniquely affordable. Paul argues that the collection and cultivation of psilocybin mushrooms is central to our evolutionary well-being. These remarkable fungi may fundamentally change the many challenges we face as a society. Active mushrooms make nicer people. Paul believes we are at a crossroads, and access to active mushrooms is central to a fundamental human right: Our freedom of consciousness. 

Could active mushrooms help propel us as we emerge into a new version of ourselves, Homo sapiens 3.0? (Hint - the answer is YES!) 

Bio:

Paul Stamets is an elder, author, and independent mycologist whose pioneering work has shaped modern fungal taxonomy, medicinal mycology, and public understanding of psychoactive fungi. He has authored eight books, most recently Psilocybin Mushrooms in Their Natural Habitats (June 2025), and has formally discovered and named numerous psilocybin-containing species. In 2023, the species Psilocybe stametsii was named in his honor.

An Invention Ambassador for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and a 2020 inductee of The Explorers Club, Stamets has received the National Mycologist Award (2013), the Gordon and Tina Wasson Award (2015), the NextMed Disruptor Award (2023), and the SynBioBeta Lifetime Achievement Award (2024). In 2025, the United Nations recognized him as one of the “100 Disruptors” advancing positive global change.

He founded Fungi Perfecti, LLC, and created Host Defense® Mushrooms™, a line studied in multiple clinical trials reporting positive health outcomes. Stamets brings decades of fieldwork, taxonomic insight, and advocacy for responsible, science-based engagement with psilocybin fungi—bridging traditional knowledge, conservation, and emerging therapeutic applications.

Ticket Information

To make our programs accessible to more people, we offer sliding-scale pricing; please choose the rate that's best for you. For those who need additional financial assistance, please see our scholarship program. The ticket price only covers the talk; tapas are sold separately, and information will be shared about the Chef Chad’s menu and how to purchase food as the date gets closer. A portion of your program fee goes to Sogorea Te Land Trust. 

Ticket Prices

$65 Pay it Forward (this rate supports someone else to come)

$50 Standard Ticket

$35 Community Supported (these are supported by Pay it Forward tickets)

$15 for Livestream (choose "Standard")

Teens & Kids

$15 per teen (teens must be accompanied by an adult; this talk is not recommended for children younger than teens, but you know your child)

Accessibility

Our space is wheelchair accessible