Stamets

Paul Stamets, founder and leader of Fungi Perfecti of Olympia, Wash., which sells mushroom-cultivation and related products, will give a lecture, "Mushrooms as Ecological Medicines for People and Planet," Tuesday, Nov. 1, at 4 p.m., in Statler Auditorium.

Stamets will talk about how mushrooms steer the course of ecological recovery and their role in habitat restoration, decomposition of toxic wastes and mycofiltration of biological pathogens.

Stamets, who has been a mycologist and mushroom enthusiast for almost three decades, is credited with discovering four new mushroom species. He is now involved in the therapeutic use of mushrooms for medicinal and nutraceutical use and with using fungi for environmental protection and bioremediation. He has recently discovered, for example, attractants in insect-pathogenic molds and has developed mold-based products in which the fungus both attracts and kills pest ants and termites.

He has written five books, including his most recent, "Mycelium Running: A Guide to Healing the Planet Through Gardening" (2004). A book signing will follow the lecture, which is free and open to the public.

At Cornell, the designation of university lecturer is given to speakers whose subjects have wide-ranging appeal. Guest speakers are selected by a University Lectures Committee composed of faculty members and students. The University Lectures series at Cornell was started by Goldwin Smith at the beginning of the 20th century. All University Lectures are free and open to the public.