Biophilia Network
Join Pittsburgh’s new network of creative minds working together to strengthen the bond between people and the natural world.
Biophilia: Pittsburgh is the pilot chapter for a global Biophilia Network. Read on to learn about our next event!
Biophilia: Pittsburgh – The Mushroom Masterminds of Western Pennsylvania Mushroom Club
Location: Café Phipps
Join us Thurs., Oct. 3 at 6 p.m. for an in-person and virtual Biophilia meet-up to kick off the fall season! Hear from the Western Pennsylvania Mushroom Club to learn more about the fun-guys and gals who are wild about fungi, details about the organization itself, some of the projects members have worked on and ways that you can get connected. Plus hear about some of the fungi we can expect to see in October in our area! Not able to join us in person? We will also be streaming the event via Zoom! Register here.
Meetings are free to attend; however, advance registration is required via email. Click the button below to reserve your spot today.
Meet the Speaker:
Stephen Bucklin
WPMC Mycologist and Lichen Specialist, Stephen Bucklin is a Naturalist Educator for the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, delivering outdoor science programs and public hikes out of the Frick Environmental Center, where he has worked since 2014. Stephen has a Bachelor of Science in ecology, evolution and behavior from Penn State Erie. He has been a WPMC member since 2017 and served as club President from 2021-23. An award-winning mushroom photographer, Stephen’s photo of Microstoma floccosum appears in the 2024 book Hunting Mushrooms.
Barbora Batokova
Barbora Batokova is an avid mycophile, photographer and author from the Czech Republic. She currently lives in Pittsburgh, PA, in the United States. In 2018, she established fungiwoman, a photography project to foster learning about mushrooms, inspire people to go mushroom hunting and share creative, delicious recipes that incorporate wild mushrooms. In April 2024, she published her first book, Hunting Mushrooms: How to Safely Identify, Forage, and Cook Wild Fungi, to help people break into the world of mushroom foraging with confidence. She loves exploring the woods around the world and taking people on mushroom walks. She currently serves as president of the Western Pennsylvania Mushroom Club (WPMC). Follow her at @fungiwoman on Instagram and visit fungiwoman.com to learn more.
Information for virtual attendees: The Zoom meeting will begin promptly at 6 p.m. (EST), 3 p.m. (PST). After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Designed as a series of posts on the Phipps blog and a hashtag for use on Twitter and Instagram, #bioPGH is a new social call-to-action for people throughout the region to more closely examine the beauty and importance of the nature around them.
The Biophilic Mind is a blog focused on presenting primary-source articles at the intersection of human health and the natural world. The Biophilic Mind aims to highlight high quality, recent research about the connections between well-being and nature.
Inspired by the Biophilic Cities initiative, the Biophilia: Pittsburgh Directory seeks to present an overview of the biophilic organizations, events, activities and projects in Pittsburgh, to aid the public in enhancing their connections to nature and discovering collaborative opportunities.
In this archive, you may access presentation materials and video recordings from previous installments of our monthly Biophilia: Pittsburgh meeting series. Additions will be made often, so visit regularly for the latest materials to deepen your Biophilia: Pittsburgh experience.
Biophilia: Pittsburgh meets monthly at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens where, over delicious small-plates and light refreshments, an expert guest speaker discusses ways of connecting people to nature and showing how these connections can improve our lives in the interest of sharing ideas and identifying opportunities.
Our Goals
• To welcome and inspire others with the concept and principles of biophilia
• To foster collaboration and learning between professionals from a wide variety of disciplines
• To communicate biophilic principles in action-oriented ways to a wider audience for exponential and regional impact
What Is Biophilia?
The term “biophilia,” which literally means “love of life,” was coined by social psychologist Erich Fromm and popularized by biologist E.O. Wilson, who defined it as “the innately emotional affiliation of human beings to other living organisms.”
The implications of biophilia extend across a vast array of disciplines including design and engineering, nutrition, psychology, public health, education, biology and the humanities. Biophilia is expressed all over the world every day, through complex collaborations such as the design and construction of buildings and landscapes; and intimate, personal encounters including nature hikes and home gardening.
Photo © Paul g. Wiegman, Phipps staff
