Alan Rockefeller is an American mycologist from who specializes in fungi photography, microscopy, DNA barcoding, and taxonomy.[1][2] Rockefeller currently serves as chief mycologist for Mimosa Therapeutics, a private equity-funded biotech company that manufactures therapeutic psychoactive alkaloids on a commercial scale.[3] National Geographic described Rockefeller as "one of the most well-known mycologists studying psilocybe species. He can rattle off Latin names faster than most people can understand them and has a near-encyclopedic knowledge of mushrooms on the west coast of the U.S."[4] Rockefeller collects and classifies "known and possibly new types of psilocybin and muscimol mushrooms."[5] In addition, through "phylogenetic and microscopic analysis, he has identified several species not described in the scientific literature."[6]
Rockefeller participates in several citizen science projects by identifying fungi on iNaturalist, Mushroom Observer, and Facebook,[6] as well as teaching mushroom photography classes.[7] Rockefeller's iNaturalist images are released under a Creative Commons license,[6] allowing their use as photo illustrations for news articles and sites like Wikipedia. Rockefeller asserts that fungi photography is valuable not just for scientific documentation but "to get people excited about nature."[8] Rockefeller is self-taught, and the San Francisco Chronicle once described him as a "remarkably dedicated volunteer".[9] Mycology is an underfunded field that relies more than many scientific disciplines on independent naturalists for taxonomic extensions.[9][10][11]
Rockefeller worked professionally in information security[9] but "the son of two science teachers...started studying mushrooms in 2001 and has since traveled around the world to find and classify them. Since 2007, he has made annual visits to Mexico and has photographed more than 1,000 fungi species that grow there."[12] His explorations of Mexican cloud forests have included studies of night-fruiting, bioluminescent and fluorescent mushrooms.[13] Circa 2023, Rockefeller and Mandie Quark, in cooperation with the indigenous Sacha-Wasi people, have been working to catalog Ecuadorian fungi species.[14]
Rockefeller was one of the taxonomists who first described Psilocybe allenii and he "recently co-authored a 2020 publication characterizing five Psilocybe species."[12] He also moderates Shroomery.org, a discussion forum for enthusiasts and home cultivators of psychedelic mushrooms, which remain illegal in many/most jurisdictions.[15]
