About me
Hi there! I’m Amanda Dye and I’m passionate about making the Fungal kingdom more accessible to the general public through educational community mycology programming, hands-on cultivation workshops, applied research, the visual and performing arts, and partnerships with non-profit organizations and businesses.
I help bridge the gap between research and applied mycology by working with community groups, businesses, and people of all ages.
Why Fungi?
I became seriously interested in pursuing fungi in 2017 and haven’t looked back. After years of studying, growing, and painting them, I decided I wanted to share my knowledge and experiences working with the Fungal kingdom with others.
Mushrooms are also nutrient-dense, full of medicinal benefits, and can be grown in odd places - which makes them the perfect solution to fight food insecurity in urban, suburban & rural areas. Helping others eat well, understanding our food sources and ecosystems, and teaching skills for self-sufficiency are all parts of why I continue to say a resounding “YES!” to working with fungi every day.
Education
Master’s of Public Administration, 25’ Clark UniversityB.A in Global Environmental Studies, 24’, Clark University
MIT Leadership Training Institute, 2017
Awards and Fellowships
NSF Travel Award, 2024S.P.O.R.E.S Scholarship Recipient, Mycological Society of America, 2024
Albert, Norma and Howard Geller ’77 Endowed Research Fellowship Award 2023 for Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability
Gold Presidential Award, for over 550 hours of community service, 2019
Silver Congressional Award, 2019
Prudential Spirit Award, Girl Scouts of Eastern MA, 2019
Gold Award for “Art in a Bag”, Girl Scouts of Eastern MA, 2017
Conferences
Faculty Speaker, Northeast Mycological Federation Annual Foray, 2025Attendee, Mycological Society of America, 2025
S.P.O.R.E.S Mentee and Attendee, Mycological Society of America, 2024
Speaker and Discussion Moderator, MassMyco Regional Conference, 2023
Publications
“Become a Gas Leak Detective!” Evaluating a Multigenerational Citizen Science Program for Connecting Distribution Pipelines to Energy Justice, accepted by the peer-reviewed international journal, Energy Research and Social Science (ERSS) in Fall 2023
Read Here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214629623003110