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Don King, Chef and Wild Food Enthusiast, The Mushroom Hunter & Director of Applied Mycology, Epiphany Mushroom Co

Don, also known as The Mushroom Hunter, can often be found hiking the forests of Ohio and neighboring states in search of wild mushrooms and other delicious and healthy edibles, which he considers to be the pinnacle of sustainable, local foods. He has also studied wild mushrooms in Mexico, Colombia, and Canada. Don has been foraging for over two decades, and has been teaching mushroom identification for 16 years. He has made over a dozen appearances on Fox8’s New Day Cleveland morning show, and has run hundreds of foraging classes and workshops through organizations such as Cleveland Metroparks, Holden Arboretum, the Cuyahoga County Library system, The Ohio Mushroom Festival, Ohio Wild Food Fest, Reeds & Roots Skillshare gatherings, and The Wilderness Center. In December of 2023, Don joined Akron, Ohio-based Epiphany Mushroom Co, a mushrooms and mental health company, as their Director of Applied Mycology, spearheading their cultivation and processing of mushrooms for both culinary and medicinal use, as well as their mushroom-based culinary products. More about his work can be found here:

Michale Glennon, Senior Research Scientist, Paul Smith's College Adirondack Watershed Institute

Michale is a wildlife ecologist, fiber artist, and director of Wool and Water, a project of the Adirondack Watershed Institute at Paul Smith’s College. Wool and Water is a collaborative project that blends fiber art with scientific information to create visual representations of changing water quality conditions in the Adirondacks and beyond. Knitting, crochet, weaving and other fiber arts are used to illustrate concepts and trends related to our waterways, and to provide inspiration for their protection. As a Senior Research Scientist at the Adirondack Watershed Institute, Dr. Glennon uses  as a tool for understanding threats to ecological integrity and watershed health. She helps provide leadership to AWI's scientific research program, support high quality research opportunities for students, and advocate for science in support of the management and stewardship of the natural resources of the Adirondack Park. Michale is also a board member for the Adirondack Council and Traditional Arts in Upstate New York.

Jess Boeke & Sarah Pottle, Co-Founders, Rust Belt Fibershed

Jess and Sarah are identical twin sisters! They are also daughters, mothers, wives, and aunties- born and raised in North East Ohio. Their background includes combined decades of work as public school teachers who - during the summer months - would volunteer on organic farms and work together on their textile art projects. In their work with education, they began questioning siloed systems, and in their work with textiles, they began questioning fabric construction, synthetic fabrics and dyes, and eventually learned the near impossibility to source any local, biodegradable yardage.

As a result of questioning the linear, extractive textile industry that is fueled by the cascade of disconnection to our materials and disposable culture, Jess and Sarah co-founded the Rust Belt Fibershed. Rust Belt Fibershed is a non-profit organization that is developing circular bioregional textile ecosystems within 250 miles of Cleveland, Ohio in order to create opportunities for economic integrity, ecological stewardship, and connection to people and place. In that same vein of systems-thinking and deep connection, Jess and Sarah also founded Drift Lab Earth, a natural dye studio that uses plant pigments as a portal to cultivate creative experiences that help us all remember ourselves as part of living systems. 

Parking:

1 Risman Drive
Kent, OH 44242
Please note: Only guests to ÇàÄêɬµ¼º½ are to park in the Student Center Visitors Lot. ÇàÄêɬµ¼º½ faculty, staff, and students are recommended to park in the lots designated to their parking pass.