Paul Stamets is a speaker, bestselling author, mycologist, medical researcher and entrepreneur, and considered an intellectual and industry leader in fungi: habitat, medicinal use, and production. He lectures extensively to deepen the understanding and respect for the organisms that literally exist under every footstep taken on this path of life.

His presentations cover a range of mushroom species and research showing how mushrooms can help the health of people and planet. His central premise is that habitats have immune systems, just like people, and mushrooms are cellular bridges between the two. Our close evolutionary relationship to fungi can be the basis for novel pairings in the microbiome that lead to greater sustainability and immune enhancement.

Paul plays a significant role in the hit 2019 documentary film Fantastic Fungi, and edited the film’s official companion book, Fantastic Fungi: Expanding Consciousness, Alternative Healing, Environmental Impact. Stamets has also appeared in popular culture, with the character Lieutenant Commander Paul Stamets on the CBS series Star Trek: Discovery was named after him.