Paul Stamets

Paul Stamets has been a dedicated mycologist for over thirty years. He has published 6 books, several of which are used as the central textbooks by the gourmet and medicinal mushroom industry. Over this time, he has discovered and coauthored numerous new species of mushrooms, has been awarded many patents, and pioneered techniques in the field of edible and medicinal mushroom cultivation. He received the 1998 "Bioneers Award" from The Collective Heritage Institute. In 2008, Paul received the National Geographic Adventure Magazine's Green-ovator and the Argosy Foundation's E-chievement Awards. He was also named one of Utne Reader's "50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World" in their November–December 2008 issue. In February 2010, Paul received the President's Award from the Society for Ecological Restoration in recognition of his contributions to Ecological Restoration. He is an advisor to the Program for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona Medical School. His premise is that habitats and humans share immune systems and that mushroom mycelia are the cellular bridges between the two.