Daniel Winkler grew up collecting and eating wild mushrooms in the Alps and has been foraging since 18 years old in the Pacific NorthWest. He trained as a geographer and ecologist and works as researcher and NGO consultant on environmental issues of the Tibetan Plateau, specializing on Tibet’s diverse mushroom industry, publishing widely on the subject, especially on Caterpillar fungus -- Ophiocordyceps sinensis. He is also the author of Field Guides to Edible Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest and California.

In concert with the publication of Daniel Winkler’s and Larry Evans’s Amazon Mushroom Field Guide, Daniel will share his best photos and stories from his annual travels in the Upper Amazon Basin along the eastern Andean slopes of Ecuador and Bolivia.

As one of the most biodiverse areas in the western hemisphere, the Amazon contains an extremely diverse group of fungal organisms from bright-pink oyster mushrooms to giant polypores, from macabre insect-parasitizing Cordyceps and strange Xylarias to dainty colorful Marasmius and Collybias. Daniel will also share wildlife, bizarre insects, and exotic flowers.