Mycologist Patty Kaishian and writer/educator Hasmik Djoulakian join Nina and Nat to talk about mushrooms as metaphors and creatures, non binary fungi, and the queer discipline of mycology. We talk the New Moon Mycology Summit, and the naming of the biological world. During the episode, Hasmik speaks about the violence against Armenians in Artsakh, and recommends several activist organizations where folks can learn more and offer support. These are Kooyrigs, https://kooyrigs.org/ and All for Armenia https://allforarmenia.org/
With Patty Kaishian and Hasmik Djoulakian
Patricia Kaishian is a Mycologist and postdoctoral researcher at Purdue University, where she serves as a curator of the Arthur Fungarium and Kriebel Herbarium. She is a fungal taxonomist who classifies, names, describes, and generally cherishes fungi. She received her PhD in Mycology from SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry in Syracuse, NY, in 2020, where her dissertation focused on the taxonomy and ecology of Laboulbeniales (Ascomycota).
Hasmik Djoulakian is a writer and educator based in Syracuse, NY, on the lands of the Onondaga Nation, where she currently works in the anti-sexual violence field. She is a first-generation queer Armenian woman who writes about and organizes with others around intergenerational trauma, healing, and transnational, anti-colonial feminist solidarities. Her education focused on gender studies and creative writing, and she feels drawn to exploring their overlap with biological studies, which have always held her wonder and curiosity. She is happiest among the rivers, lakes, swamps, bogs, and mountains of the places she calls home.
