Fungi guru Sofia Zvolanek with a native milk cap. Photo: Supplied.
If you have any interest in nature, the iNaturalist citizen science app will open a whole new world for you. Whether you find an unusual animal track or a weird and wacky fungi, if you upload a photo, chances are someone in the iNaturalist community can identify it for you.
Two people who know the ins and outs of iNaturalist will be explaining how to use it, and how to best take photos so that others can tell you what you have sighted. They will share the delight that comes from belonging to the community of naturalists who use the app.
Sofia Zvolanek and Caitlin Brown will hold an iNaturalist workshop and guided fungi walk on Saturday (27 June), and another walk on Sunday (28 June) in Bermagui as part of the Fungi Feastival. The two-hour guided walks will discover what fungi treasures can be unearthed in Bermagui State Forest.
The lead presenter is Ms Zvolanek. She works as a bush regenerator in Sydney and leads council-run tours to teach locals about the fungi in their backyard.
She was introduced to iNaturalist while studying for a Bachelor of Biodiversity and Conservation during the COVID pandemic. Living in a bush-bound suburb near campus allowed her to avoid public transport and walk to class instead, snapping fungi as she went. “I thought, ripper, I can upload all these photos,” she said. That led her to begin learning about fungi in earnest.
She also volunteered with a professor who was documenting the diversity of the ‘club’ and ‘coral’ fungi in the Lane Cove River area to discover what was present and how many were undescribed. She spent several months in the bush collecting samples and helped extract DNA in the lab.
Bermagui children’s art and science educator Caitlin Brown. Photo: Tony Davison.
Supporting Ms Zvolanek will be Bermagui resident Caitlin Brown. A self-described fungi enthusiast and a children’s art and science educator, Miss Brown is always interested in supporting children to connect with nature.
She has used iNaturalist for many years but found it invaluable when she observed fire fungi in Bermagui after low intensity fire went through during the Black Summer bushfires.
“I documented some of the recovery in our area and learnt a lot,” Miss Brown said. “They are the ecosystems’ first responders. They can emerge from hot ashes, lock in water, provide food, prevent erosion and help recovery.”
Recently she guided children on a fungi forest walk, and introduced fungi expert Tim Grimsey to a Bermagui fungi hotspot. They were all delighted by the amazing diversity of fungi they saw. Miss Brown encourages everyone to visit natural places such as forests and grow to love them.
Ms Zvolanek will be teaching people how to take photos to enable identification.
“You have to get up close on the ground and take photos of the sides and underneath where there could be pores, teeth, or gills in different shapes and colours,” she said. “It is important to get that information to people. They could be someone in your street or an international expert.”
Sofia Zvolanek will teach how to take photographs that will help others to identify your sightings. Photo: Supplied.
The more people uploading photos and audio recordings into iNaturalist the better it is for the citizen scientist community. It is also valuable for councils to have more data on what is present in the area to guide invasive species management plans and protect threatened species.
iNaturalist opened a new world for Ms Zvolanek. She could upload photos and people could tell her what she had sighted.
“You can look at everyone else’s photos, all the observations in your area, and species lists,” she said. “Suddenly I was able to view photos of fungi I had never seen before like waxcaps, earth stars and puffballs.”
Another appeal of fungi is they are not present year-round.
“It is like a treasure hunt. You never know exactly what is going to be there or if it will be there when you expect to see it,” she said.
Visit the Fungi Feastival to buy tickets to Saturday’s workshop (27 June) and the walk. Another walk will be held on Sunday (28 June).
