Episode description

Today on Mushroom Hour we are joined by freethinker, activist and mycologist Dr. Patricia Kaishian. Dr. Kaishian received a B.A in Biology with a concentration in Environmental Studies in 2013 from Wheaton College, MA. In August 2020, she defended her Ph.D. in Forest Pathology & Mycology from SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry. She is broadly trained in the taxonomy of macro and micro fungi, with considerable field experience in the Neotropics. Currently, she is working as a postdoctoral researcher in the Aime Lab at Purdue University where she is serving as curator of fungi at the Arthur Fungarium & Kriebel Herbarium. Beyond more traditional scientific work, Dr. Kaishian also works in the realms like the philosophy of science, feminist bioscience, ecofeminism and queer theory, exploring how mycology and other scientific disciplines are situated in and informed by our sociopolitical landscape. She is a founding member of the International Congress of Armenian Mycologists, a research organization comprised of ethnically Armenian mycologists who seek to simultaneously advance mycological science and Armenian sovereignty and liberation.   

TOPICS COVERED:   

• Childhood Embracing Nature in NY State  
• Activism & Science Intertwined  
• The Practice of Science & the Institution of Science  
• Western Eurocentric Perspectives Embedding into Modern Institutions  
• Historical Dynamics Between Institutional Science, Institutional Christianity, Agriculture & Colonization  
• Agro-Heterosexuality  
• Queer Theory & Queer Ecology  
• Mycology as a Queer Science  
• Upliftment of Marginalized People & Organisms  
• Influence of Dr. Robin Kimmerer  
• Armenian Advocacy  
• Link Between Biodiversity & Indigenous Sovereignty  
• Dr. Kaishian’s Research on Laboulbeniales & Rust Fungi  

EPISODE RESOURCES:   

• Dr. Kaishian Twitter: https://twitter.com/queendom_fungi
• Dr. Kaishian ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Patricia-Kaishian  
• "Mycology as a Queer Discipline" Paper: https://catalystjournal.org/index.php/catalyst/article/view/33523  
• Dr. George Hudler “Magical Mushrooms Mischievous Molds”: https://www.amazon.com/Magical-Mushrooms-Mischievous-George-Hudler/dp/0691070164  
• "Queer Ecologies": https://www.amazon.com/Queer-Ecologies-Nature-Politics-Desire/dp/0253222036  
• "The Mushroom at the End of the World": https://www.amazon.com/Mushroom-End-World-Possibility-Capitalist/dp/0691178321/  
• "Braiding Sweetgrass": https://www.amazon.com/Braiding-Sweetgrass-Indigenous-Scientific-Knowledge/dp/1571313567/  
• Tiokasin Ghosthorse: https://www.humansandnature.org/tiokasin-ghosthorse
• International Congress of Aremenian Mycologists: https://icarmenian-mycologists.github.io/  
• Entoloma salmoneum: https://www.mushroomexpert.com/entoloma_quadratum.html