EM
Reviewing Mycologist

Dr. Elena Marsh

Consulting Mycologist & Chief Reviewer

Dr. Elena Marsh has spent more than 20 years studying fungal taxonomy and toxicology. She earned her PhD in Mycology at the University of Washington and now reviews every identification and safety page on KnowTheSpore before it publishes.

Her lab focus is the Amanita genus, the group behind most fatal mushroom poisonings in North America. She checks each edible profile against its dangerous lookalikes, because one wrong feature can send a forager to the emergency room.

When a claim cannot be traced to a herbarium record or a peer-reviewed key, it does not go live. Her rule for readers is simple. When in doubt, throw it out.

Credentials

Experience
20 years in the field
Focus areas
Fungal taxonomy, Mushroom toxicology, Amanita identification
Qualifications
PhD Mycology, University of Washington, member, North American Mycological Association (NAMA)
Role
Reviews identification and safety pages before publish
Pages reviewed
109

Signs off on every safety-critical page

Pages reviewed by Dr. Elena Marsh

Agarikon Angel Wing Antler Reishi Australian Honey Fungus Autumn Skullcap Beautiful Clavaria Big Laughing Gym Birch Polypore Bitter Beech Bolete Bitter Bolete Bitter Poisonpie Black Morel Black Truffle Black Trumpet Blackedge Bonnet Blackening Waxcap Blistered Cup Blood-Red Webcap Booted Amanita Brawny Bolete Bronze Bolete Brown Roll-Rim Burnt Knight Caesar's Mushroom Cauliflower mushroom Chaga Chanterelle Chanterelle vs Jack O'Lantern: Tell Them Apart Safely Chicken of the Woods Common Earthball Common Inkcap Copper Roll Rim Cordyceps Creamy Mushroom Risotto With Deep Mushroom Flavor Cremini Dangerous Mushroom Lookalikes That Cause Deadly Mistakes Deadly Dapperling Deadly Fibrecap Deadly Galerina Deadly Parasol Deadly Webcap Death Cap Destroying Angel Devil's Bolete Eastern Flat-Top Agaricus Enoki False Death Cap False Morel False Morel vs True Morel: Why the Hollow Test Matters Felt-Ringed Agaricus Field Mushroom Fly Agaric Fool's Conecap Fool's Funnel Fool's Mushroom Fool's Webcap Foraging Safety Rules That Keep Wild Mushrooms Off Your Plate Gemmed Amanita Ghost Fungus Gray Morel Green-Spored Parasol Half-Free Morel Hedgehog Mushroom How to Cook Morels Safely and Brown Them Well How to Grow Oyster Mushrooms From Straw to Harvest How to Take a Spore Print You Can Actually Read Inky Mushroom Ivory Funnel Jack O'Lantern Liberty Cap Lion's Mane Livid Pinkgill Maitake Matsutake Mesima Morel Morel Mushroom soup: the browning step is the whole recipe Oyster Mushroom Oyster Mushroom vs Shiitake: Which One Fits the Dish? Oyster mushroom Panther Cap Pink oyster Porcini Poria Red-Belted Conk Reishi Saffron Milk Cap Sauteed Chanterelles That Brown Instead of Steam Shaggy Mane Shaggy Parasol Shiitake Shiitake Shimeji Slippery Jack Sulphur Knight Sulphur Tuft The Blusher Tremella Turkey Tail Velvet Shank Western Destroying Angel White Chanterelle White Fibrecap White Truffle Wood Blewit Woolly Milkcap Yellow Knight Yellow Stainer