Every year, the Peck Foray unites lovers of mushrooms and other fungi for a weekend of collecting and identification. It's been hosted since 1954 by a different volunteer host each Fall, usually somewhere in New York. Prof. Kathie T. Hodge (Cornell University) is the Peck Coordinator.
The Peck Foray is open to all who are interested in fungi. Attendees traditionally include professors and their students, talented nonprofessional mycologists, and curious amateurs. There is typically no formal education program, only the joint collecting and sharing of interesting mushrooms and other fungi, and an intriguing evening lecture Saturday night.
The Peck was developed years ago as a way for graduate and undergraduate students to practice their fungal identification skills. This event is run by professors, so it has a pedagogical slant: we hope you'll WORK on your finds and learn by discussing them. This focus on students also means we try to keep the foray inexpensive to encourage student participation, and, depending on the facility, we may prioritize student registrations.
Some mushrooms found at Peck 2019 (Magdalen Lindeberg)
The Next Peck
Sadly, the 2020 Peck Foray has been canceled by its host, Kathie Hodge. We look forward to better times when we can gather again.
Registration Info
Check back in Summer 2021. Meanwhile, happy hunting!
Who was Peck?
Peck was an influential mycologist in New York state in the late 1800s and early 1900s. He named many of the northeastern mushrooms we know today.