Paul Stamets | |
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![]() Stamets holding Laricifomes officinalis in 2006 | |
Born | Salem, Ohio, U.S. | July 17, 1955
Education | Mercersburg Academy |
Alma mater | The Evergreen State College |
Subject | Fungi[1][2] |
Website | |
paulstamets |
Paul Edward Stamets (born July 17, 1955)[3] is an American mycologist and entrepreneur who sells various mushroom products through his company. He is an author and advocate of medicinal fungi and mycoremediation.
Stamets was born in Salem, Ohio.[4] He grew up in Columbiana, Ohio with an older brother, John, older brother, Bill, an older sister, Lilly, his twin brother North, and younger siblings.[5] He graduated from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington with a bachelor's degree in 1979.[6] He worked as a logger.[6] As of 2013, Stamets was married to Carolyn "Dusty" Yao.[4] He has an honorary doctorate from the National University of Natural Medicine in Portland.[7]
Stamets credits his late brother, John, with stimulating his interest in mycology,[5] and studied mycology as an undergraduate student.[4] Having no academic training higher than a bachelor's degree, Stamets is largely self-taught in the field of mycology.[8][9]
Stamets received Bioneers Award from The Collective Heritage Institute in 1998 and the Award for Contributions to Amateur Mycology from The North American Mycological Association in 2013.[10] He also received an Invention Ambassador (2014–2015) award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).[11][12]
Stamets plays a significant part in the 2019 documentary film Fantastic Fungi, and edited the film’s official companion book, Fantastic Fungi: Expanding Consciousness, Alternative Healing, Environmental Impact [13]
The character Lieutenant Commander Paul Stamets on the CBS series Star Trek: Discovery was named after the real Stamets. The fictional version is an astromycologist and engineer aboard the USS Discovery, and is credited with discovering how to navigate a mycelial network in space using a "spore drive".[14]