Giuliana Furci (born 12 August 1978) is a Chilean-British-Italian field
mycologist, speaker, author, and founder of the world's first non-profit organization dedicated to
fungi
A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...
, Fundación Fungi. She is a Harvard University Associate, National Geographic Explorer, Author of the first mushroom field guide in Chile, Co-Chair of the
IUCN Fungal Conservation Committee and co-author of titles such as the 1st State of the World’s Fungi and the paper delimiting the term
Funga.
Biography
Giuliana was born in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
to a Chilean mother (Ximena George-Nascimento) and Italian father (Carmelo Furci). Her mother was a Chilean refugee who had fled her country because of the
1973 coup, having been a political prisoner for 365 days between 1973 and 1974.
Her father is from the village of
Dinami in
Calabria, Italy.
At the age of 14, Giuliana left London for Chile with her mother.
Career
In 1999, Giuliana began her career as a self-taught mycologist while studying
aquaculture in the
Universidad de Los Lagos in Osorno, Chile.
[Furci CV](_blank)
Accessed 22.08.2021 (Curriculum Vitae) She traveled through Chile documenting fungi from 2000-2005 with her colleague Carolina Magnasco. This journey yielded a collection of over 6,000 photographs and hundreds of collections of fungi.
In 2005, Giuliana flew to Washington State and took her first class with
Paul Stamets
Paul Edward Stamets (born July 17, 1955) is an American mycologist and entrepreneur who sells various mushroom products through his company. He is an author and advocate of medicinal fungi and mycoremediation.
Early life
Stamets was born in ...
at Fungi Perfecti, titled ''Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Fungi''. Upon her return to Chile, Carolina Magnasco and Giuliana opened a Reishi Cultivation farm in Santiago called “Fungi Australe SA” which operated for 2 years before closing due to the choice of not pursuing a career in a for-profit business.
In 2007, Giuliana wrote her first book “Fungi Austral”, a field guide to Chilean austral fungi. From late 2005-2010 Giuliana worked for Terram Foundation as the salmon farming program coordinator.
In 2012, Giuliana founded the Fundación Fungi.
Her work triggered the inclusion of fungi in Chilean environmental legislation and made it possible to assess the conservation status of over 80 species of fungi. Fundación Fungi (Fungi Foundation) was the first NGO in the world dedicated to the protection of fungi, and has offices in Chile and the USA. She has published two field guides on Chilean fungi: Guías de campo Hongos de Chile Volumen I and Volumen II.
Giuliana is the curator of the FFCL Fungarium, which is continuously studied in collaboration with experts from
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
, Conicet Argentina, and the University of Florida. As a field mycologist, she helped describe two new species: ''
Amanita galactica'' and ''
Cortinarius chlorosplendidus'', and conducted mycological expeditions in close to 20 countries..
Media and Awards
She has been recognized and awarded by the McKenna Academy,
Mycological Society of America
The Mycological Society of America (MSA) is a learned society that serves as the professional organization of mycologists in the U.S. and Canada. It was founded in 1932. The Society's constitution states that "The purpose of the Society is to prom ...
and the
National Geographic Society
The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world.
Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, an ...
. Her work with the Fungi Foundation has been featured in international media such as the
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
,
the Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
,
Science Magazine
''Science'', also widely referred to as ''Science Magazine'', is the peer-reviewed academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and one of the world's top academic journals.
It was first published in 1880, ...
,
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
.