Tag Archives: cupcakes

Fungi Foodie finally gets her PhD!!

After 6 long years, I have finally been awarded my PhD from UC Berkeley! My dissertation is entitled “Patterns and Processes of Ectomycorrhizal Fungal Ecology.” Here I am happily wearing my academic robes after graduating on May 15!2016-05-15 11.56.27 HDR-3

Many of you may know my advisor Professor Tom Bruns, who helped to inspire the mushroom passion in me. He was a wonderful mentor and taught me the ins and outs of mushroom ID! So you can rest assured that I know what I am doing when I go out and forage for mushrooms!

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Posing with my advisor Tom Bruns in our academic regalia

Here I am posing with my wonderful parents, who flew in from LA to watch me graduate. Thanks mom and dad!

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Mom and dad posing with their newly minted PhD

My parents were gracious enough to throw me a graduation party, and my main criteron was that I had delicious mushroom themed cupcakes. I gave James and the Giant Cupcake images of what mushrooms I wanted and told them of my vision, and they did not disappoint!

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Cupcake mushroom garden!

Can you identify the mushrooms on my cupcakes?

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Ramaria araiospora (pink coral mushrooms) and golden chanterelle cupcakes!

I was inspired by my trip to New Zealand to include these beautiful blue Entoloma hochstetteri, which many of my friends I made in New Zealand sent me pictures of because they are so charismatic!

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Entoloma hochstetteri beautiful blue New Zealand mushrooms

And of course I had to include the ever so photogenic Amanita muscaria

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Amanita muscaria red velvet cupcakes

Interspersed with salted caramel and peter pan mushrooms, they made a beautiful cupcake mushroom garden.

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Salted caramel, Amanita muscaria red velvet, and peanut butter Peter pan cupcakes

It was truly a mushroom cupcake garden fit for Dr. Fungi Foodie :)

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Thanks Laura for coming to celebrate with me and my cupcake mushroom garden!

And of course, I have to show off all my new mushroom schwag. My friends know what I like :)

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Mushroom themed graduation presents – I love them!