Tavis Lynch

Field Mycologist

Tavis Lynch is a foray leader, identifier, and organizer of the Barronett Tri-County Foray. Tavis developed a love of mycology as a child. His father started teaching him mycological identification as a small child. Tavis is now a 30-year veteran of mushroom cultivation and identification in northwest Wisconsin and is passing on his love of mushrooms to others. He is a mycology instructor for 22 schools in the Upper Midwest and has been teaching for about twelve years. Tavis is the author of “Mushroom Cultivation” (Quarto) and co-author of “The Beginner’s Guide to Mushrooms” (Quarto). He specializes in the genus Russula and several other genera. He is also active with the Wisconsin Mycological Society, and is the founder of the Northwestern Wisconsin Myco Enthusiasts (NWME) club and an active contributor to everything mushroom-related in the Midwest.

Bruch Reed

Field Mycolgist

Bruch Reed will be a foray leader and mushroom identifier at our event. Bruch is a member of the Illinois Mycological Association and New York Mycological Society and currently serves as Executive Secretary of North American Mycological Association (NAMA). He has been privileged to have enjoyed leisurely yet intensive mushroom study while building friendships with such eminent mycologists as Gary Lincoff, Patrick Leacock, and Britt Bunyard, among many other woodland wizards. He is especially honored to work with Tavis Lynch and Northwestern Wisconsin Myco Enthusiasts in the most mycologically diverse part of Wisconsin, a paradise in which he fondly remembers summering as a boy.

Brad Knowles

Chief Identifier

Brad Knowles is going to lead forays and Identify mushrooms at our event this year. Brad has been an active member of the Wisconsin Mycological Society for several years, and has led and assisted the leaders of several forays. He has attended NAMA forays and the Telluride Mushroom Festival. He is familiar with many of Wisconsin’s mushroom species, especially the edible species. Brad is one of the leading experts on the genus Hygrocybe in the Upper Midwest.

Melissa Klotka

Foray Director 

 Melissa has been an avid nature lover since she was a child. She learned to love biology while looking in the microscopes at her father's job at the local wastewater treatment plant.  That love of nature turned into a fascination with mushrooms. and foraging.  Melissa has been an active Board Member for the Wisconsin Mycological Society for the past 2 years and is on the Events Committee. Melissa  is going to be the night UV Hike leader and is one of the organizers of this event.  She has a Bachelor's of Business Administration from UW - Whitewater, and has her own business doing art restoration (Hummingbird and Honeybee Art Services).  Melissa can't wait to see all of the new and familiar faces at all of the upcoming foraging events for this season! If you need information about the foray please reach out to her at 262-751-3216, or email BarronettTCF@gmail.com

Dani Mortenson

Registration Team Lead

​Dani Mortenson will be a foray leader for our event. Dani grew up in the St. Croix Valley of NW WI, and found her way to wood sorrel/oxalis as a toddler. Dani works as a mental health therapist, and in her free time she enjoys making art and venturing into the prairies and woods to breathe fresh air, commune with nature, and receive the gifts found there. Dani is learning more and more about the stewardship element of how to give to nature, and she hopes to forest farm and nurture the soil that she will purchase in the future. Teaching is a passion for her and she even hopes to integrate nature into her therapy practice, as well as offer foraging and other related training one day.

---