Introducing Team Mushroom 2025!

MEET TEAM MUSHROOM 2025!

We are thrilled to share the team who will be working behind the scenes on creating the 45th Annual Telluride Mushroom Festival. We are proud of this talented team and look forward to seeing their skills and passions at work. Help us in welcoming a new era of TMF Leadership and learn more about the team below!

REBECCA ROBERTS (She/They)
Operations Manager & Business Development

What do you do for TMF? As Operations Manager and Business Development lead for the Telluride Mushroom Festival, my focus is on building strong relationships with sponsors and donors while overseeing the festival’s overall operations. This year, my role is expanding to include venue management. One of my passion projects since joining TMF has been developing the Integration Space and implementing harm reduction systems to create a safer experience for all attendees.

What is your favorite mushroom?
My favorite mushroom (right now!) is Reishi. It’s the nervous system mushroom and the mushroom for the heart. The mushroom-spirit ia often missed in mycologically infused language and it can be more healing that any of the multitudes of constituents in our lil mushie friends. While I love reishi paired with rose in tincture form, reishi itself is grounding and heart-centered. When consumed, reishi brings you back to center and immediately elicits a state of peace and calm.

How did you get involved with TMF?
I love this story! I was doing a work-stay on a WWOOF mushroom farm called The Mushroomery in The Willamette Valley Oregon. I was living in the barn, where the mushrooms grew, and they had an old poster of TMF. They suggested I go, if I wanted to continue to learn about mushrooms.

The first year I came was 2017 and was hooked. The next 4 years I returned as a volunteer, holding every volunteer position in the fest and showing up the very best I could because it felt like what I needed to do. When I knew Ashely Smith wouldn’t be returning to TMF, I knew a position would be opening up for TMF ‘22. I moved to Telluride for another job and bugged and bugged Matt and Teal to hire me until they finally brought me on to manage TMF partnerships months later.

What are you most excited about for TMF 2025?
To watch TMF continue to spread the good news; that people can be like mushrooms! I’ve been on such a deep quest of how to have reciprocal relationships and be like the mycelium, spreading news, sharing resources, that it led me to Fungi Academy in Guatemala in December of 2024 for their Human Mycelium Retreat. I’m most excited about exploring more deeply interpersonal and organizational connectedness through the lens of Fungi and being able to discover what leadership in a greater capacity looks like for me, and how I get to share that and relate with my team. I’m most excited to watch the TMC grow and to help strengthen our beautiful and expansive mycelial web.

Any fun stories from the fest? Favorite memories? Endearing connections? Monumental discoveries?
Sarah Schwab being one of my first friends in Telluride and being a friendly face I couldn’t wait to see at mush fest each year, being the coolest Sheridan Opera House Manager, Karl Cody going out of his way to help folks he barely knew, being in awe of the way drove on mountain roads with one side of his truck nearly hanging off the mountain (he’s a true mountain main!) Darren teaching me how to cook with cast-iron in Town Park TMF 2018,, the many years camping just-out-of-town in a special spot each year, deeply admiring Ashley Coady Smith for the way she ran the show with such grace, yet had so much earned respect from everyone, Katrina Blair inviting me to live on her farm in Durango during TMF 2019 which changed my whole career as an herbalist, meeting Hamilton Pevec (Hamilton’s Mushroom) through a mutual friend and him inviting me to Carbondale for his Fungi Film Fest, sharing some homemade mushroom kombucha, and telling me he wanted to throw a dance party, and TMF has too many jam bands. And months later I was officially on the paid staff of TMF and we made the Puff Ball happen which gave birth to have some incredible dance parties at TMF for a whole future to come.

CHRIS MEDARY (He/Him)
Programming Manager

What do you do for TMF? As Programming Manager I am here to answer any and all questions regarding TMF’s program and theme. I ensure our program includes a diverse range of offerings that represent our attendee’s interests and fit the pieces together.

What is your favorite mushroom?
“I have trouble answering questions like this… but if I had to pick I would choose Armillaria or the Honey Mushroom… A common, somewhat forgettable mushroom, yet one of the largest organisms on earth, woven through forest understories across the continent. If we’re including microfungi as well as macrofungi (mushrooms) I would say my favorite are the Ericoid Mycorrhizal Fungi – adaptive wood decaying species able to partner with more than one plant at a time, and in some cases, make more than one type of structure within a plant root and cells!! So cool!”

How did you get involved with TMF?
“I got involved in TMF initially as a volunteer for simple cultivation in 2021. By this time, I was already familiar with fungi in the context of soil health as well as mental health. Immediately captivated by the community and celebration, I began taking on more work over the course of years! Mushrooms, and Funga more broadly, bring me joy. TMF allows me to blend my education with my passions in service to the people and species that I cherish!”

What are you most excited about for TMF 2025?
“As always, I look forward to the annual homecoming of my fungal family – our once a year communion to celebrate each other and the organisms we love!”

Do you have any fun stories or memories from the festival?
“Year after year, I’m struck by people’s curiosity, generosity, and creativity. TMF offers people an opportunity to meet their heros, discover lifelong friends, and make connections that have saved lives. The non-linear wholesomeness and momentum for well-being are my favorite memories – the expansive conversations, the openhearted vulnerability, the ecstatic celebrations.”

MARIAH GRIMES (She/Her)
Marketing and Communications Manager

What do you do for TMF? As Marketing and Communications Manager, I am the face behind all TMF communications. When you receive Emails, ask Ticketing questions, or see our Instagram/Facebook posts, that’s me! In addition, I manage Website updates, Festival Merchandise, and our incredibly talented Media Team.

What is your favorite mushroom?
“The first mushroom I remember having an experience with was Amanita muscaria on a hike in Alaska, fall of 2016, and for that reason, I will always hold it dear. If I am being real, my favorite mushroom is any mushroom I can forage and eat. Chicken of the Woods tops the list when it comes to wild edible mushrooms — my go-to recipe is chicken pot pie. Happening upon Chicken of the Woods in the forest is always a magical experience.”

How did you get involved with TMF?
“While living and traveling in an RV 2020-2023 I found myself in Rico, Colorado a few times working at Fireweed Cafe for my friends Matt & Chelsey recently opened. While made coffees and burritos all summer long, Matt worked hard on producing Mushroom Fest 2022. That summer I learned about foraging, identifying, and eating wild mushrooms from Teal and her partner. The next year, Matt invited me to take over the TMF Instagram, a role that felt like the fruiting of mycelial connections I formed during my time living in a “van” down by the Dolores river. TMF has rooted itself deeply in my life, offering deep nourishment, a creative outlet, and security during our travels and later as we planted our family at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Swannanoa, NC.”

What are you most excited about for TMF 2025?
“Reuniting in person with the incredible people I connect with virtually all year—our quirky mushroom family—is the highlight of my year. Keeping this legacy alive while helping it evolve is my greatest passion. Working registration is especially meaningful, as I welcome a younger generation of big-hearted mycophiles while honoring the elders who founded this festival in the 1980s. And of course—the costumes! Every year, you outdo yourselves, and somehow, you always keep them a secret until the parade. I can’t wait to see what you create this time!”

Do you have any fun stories or memories from the festival?
After the parade one year, our team snuck off to dip in the river during the drum circle —a moment of pure, uninhibited joy, filled with childlike giggles. It was a moment all to ourselves even with hundreds of people on the other side of the foliage. Another great memory was this past year, the rain was dumping at the drum circle in in Town Park and at one point the sun emerged from behind the clouds and the raindrops looked like glitter falling from the sky, in unison everyone turned toward the sun and all of the mushroom people erupted with cheering as we ran out from under the Bra to dance in the sun drenched field.

ETTA MARGEAUX SOUSER (She/They)
Information Technology & Administrative Support

What do you do for TMF? I create and implement systems that empower our small but mighty team to efficiently tackle the huge undertaking that is Mushroom Fest, ensuring the best possible experience for all Mushroom Fest attendees.

What is your favorite mushroom?
“Wood Ear Mushrooms are my favorite. They were the key to getting my kids interested in fungi! We occasionally enjoy Hot Pot, a dish found in Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese cuisines. When we make Hot Pot, we usually include a protein or two, plenty of vegetables, and, of course, mushrooms – one of which is always Wood Ears.”

How did you get involved with TMF?
“A few years ago, I had the pleasure of working with Tucker Szymkowicz. Tucker has held various roles at the Telluride Institute, including Executive Director, and has been involved with the Mushroom Festival for many years. He shared numerous stories about the festival, and when an opportunity arose at the Telluride Institute that aligned with my unique skill set, he encouraged me to submit a proposal.”

What are you most excited about for TMF 2025?
“As a first-time attendee, I’m incredibly excited to learn from and engage with this vibrant community.”

TUCKER SZYMKOWICZ (He/Him)
TI Director of Development

What is your favorite mushroom?
“Hawk’s Wing or Sarcodon imbricatus”

How did you get involved with TMF?
“I got involved while I was TI’s Executive Director from 2020-2022. The festival is TI’s largest program and also an incredible experience. I participated in the festival in 2021 & 2022 and loved everything about it.”

What are you most excited about for TMF 2025?
“I am excited to see this new team in action. Matt and Teal set a high bar but this new team has so many cool skill sets which I think will make the festival even more diverse and unique than in years past.”

Do you have any fun stories or memories from the festival?
“I had a hilarious car ride with Eugenia Bone and Britt Bunyard where they went on a 30 minute comedy spree after the VIP Dinner in 2021. It was great to see them off the stage just razzing each other and enjoying being together again.”

LAURIE LUNDQUIST (She/Her)
Representing Member of the TI Board

What is your favorite mushroom?
“My favorite mushroom has to be the beautiful and delicious Chantrelle, enticing, elegant, aromatic and always a delight to discover.”

How did you get involved with TMF?
“I am currently serving on the Board if Directors and am actively involved with all of TI programs, but, my heart rests with the mushroom Festival. I love connecting with old and new friends who are drawn to the festival for a myriad of reasons- from pure science to pure art, pure fun or a hybrid of all things Fungi. My connection to the Mushroom Festival starts with Telluride Institute, the non-profit “Home” of the festival. https://www.tellurideinstitute.org/. ”

What are you most excited about for TMF 2025?
“I am excited to be behind the scenes for the Mushroom Festival once again this year. The whole team is working hard to cover all the bases and bring you a great 45 annual Festival! ”

What is your favorite aspects about TMF as a Program?
“If I wear to pick one thread to follow in the TMF offerings it would be mycoremediation. I am a soil lover and fungi are essential to good soil health, the more that we understand soil dynamics the better we can protect and promote our forest ecology. I have learned so much from the festival over the years, from foray basics, identification of our major groups, culinary secrets, wisdom of fungi in the larger ecosystem. The festival comes together each year as the ID tables fill up with hundreds of precious samples from our mountains and the experts come together to give us back stories about the individual species. Each one is a treasure, and proof that the natural world is resilient, alive and well.”