Women Panelist Bios:

Giuliana Furci, Fundacion Fungi de Chile

Since 1999 Giuliana has dedicated her life to obtaining justice for the fungi in all aspects possible. In 2012, she founded The Fungi Foundation (www.ffungi.org), through which he has focused on the conservation of fungi, sustainable collection of edible wild mushrooms, education, mycological explorations, the curatorship of the FFCL Fungarium, and the creation of national and international mycological capacity. Her achievements have led her to work and partner with important international institutions such as the Farlow Herbarium of Harvard University, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, and the Telluride Mushroom Festival, among others. Thanks to the fundamental role of Giuliana, Chile is the only country in the world that has included fungi in its environmental legislation at the highest legislative level, thus creating dozens of jobs for mycologists and giving the initial kick-off to the creation of formal financing lines for mycology in Chile. In 2007 she published "Fungi Austral", and later in 2013 "Field Guide Fungi of Chile vol. 1" whose second edition was published in 2016, and in 2018 “Field Guide Fungi of Chile vol. 2 was published. She has collaborated in numerous books and publications on mushrooms across the globe. Giuliana received the Telluride Mushroom Festival Salzman Award 2018 for her contribution to the Festival.

Elinoar Shavit is an ethnomycologist specializing in mycological and cultural research regarding medicinal mushrooms, desert truffles, and the traditional use of fungi and plants by indigenous people around the world. She has published numerous research papers and book chapters and is a frequent speaker on these topics in international and domestic conferences. Elinoar is a contributing editor at FUNGI magazine, past President of the New York Mycological Society, and past Chairperson of the Medicinal Mushrooms Committee at the North American Mycological Association.

Cornelia Cho, MD is a mushroom club president, physician, artist, and peer-counseling leader, pursuing her passions for fungi, exploring many routes to health, creating art, and facilitating better self-understanding and cooperative communication. As a sought after keynote speaker, Cornelia is known for her engaging, humorous, and often life-changing teaching. Participants responded enthusiastically to her most recent keynote at the Midwest Women’s Herbal Conference, where she introduced the concept of neuroplasticity—-a ‘brain that can change itself’. She then guided them to take a deep look at “the hand they were dealt”, and how they could take charge of transforming their own lives.