Fungal Taxonomy, Wild Psilocybe, and Police Encounters | COMPLETE Interview with Alan Rockefeller

Visit our website at: northspore.com/?...
Join us as North Spore sits down with mycological luminary Alan Rockefeller for this exclusive interview about his 20 years collecting, documenting, and studying fungi. Alan is an expert in DNA sequencing, microscopy, and photography whose work continues to have a profound impact on fungal classification and taxonomy.
In this interview, we dive into his early interactions with mushrooms, DNA sequencing, photography, fungal taxonomy, wild psilocybe, and his encounters with the police.
We hope you enjoy this video!
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Follow Alan on his social media accounts to show your support, as well as keep up to date with upcoming classes and events!
Instagram: / alan_rockefeller (@alan_rockefeller)
Facebook: / alanrockefeller2
iNaturalist: www.inaturalist.org/people/al... (@alan_rockefeller)
Tiktok: / alan_rockefeller
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Index -
00:00 Introduction
01:21 Who are you and what do you do?
03:05 What are some of the discoveries you have made out in the field?
05:30 Can you talk about your work with identifying wild psilosybe?
08:20 How do you approach taking photographs of mushrooms? (Photo staking and mushroom photography techniques)
10:19 What does a mycologist need to see to in order to identify a mushroom?
12:35 What can DNA sequencing tell us about a mushroom? What does the process entail?
18:03 What's next? Can you talk about your upcoming events?
19:00 How can someone turn their interest in mushrooms and fungi from a hobby into work that's furthering science?
22:53 Can you tell me a little bit more about your activism work related to magic mushrooms? (Brief history of the criminalization of psychedelics and the potential health benefits of psilocybe)
27:33 Alan Rockefeller's first encounter with the police
41:33 Alan's second encounter with the police
51:00 What are you doing at the Telluride Mushroom Festival?
52:00 Do you think you'll be working with mushrooms for the rest of your life?
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Music from Epidemic Sound. "Terminal Velocity" from Cospe
Special thanks to the Telluride Institute!

[@stevee.7419]

What a great spokesperson for this world of mycology. Thank you, Alan! 🙏🏼We appreciate your service.

[@tonystewart7624]

I would really love to start a career working with mycologists and mushrooms. Alan is inspiring to me and I hope to one day find my way into this field.

[@abundand]

why don't you start it as a hobby right away?

[@murrayandru7527]

@@abundand North Spore @ your Door !!

[@tonystewart7624]

@@murrayandru7527 That's actually how it started years ago and now I do everything in house (apartment) including breeding.

[@tonystewart7624]

@@itchy-underwear That's the next step! Thank you for the comment!

[@LarsLarsen77]

There are no mycology jobs, that's why most mushroom species haven't been identified or named.@@tonystewart7624

[@infowarriorone]

I became aware of Alan's work though the Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't channel. Joey Santore and Alan go globe-trekking to places like Mexico and New Zealand to discover new species and wax poetic about mycology, evolution, and other great things.

[@katiekane5247]

They're a great team! It's how I became aware of Alan too.

[@pauljackson8319]

Are New Zealand not super strict on anything "naughty"

[@davemansfield713]

Best line ever. "The drug dog lied."

[@AlaskaJiuJitsu]

Alan is the Psilocybe king lol, a walking encyclopedia. I have watched dozens of his videos!

[@NorthSpore]

He's certainly a luminary. Thanks for watching our interview with him!

[@MatthewM575]

I used to a K9 handler and trainer for a Sheriff department. Always listen to words the handlers use. Usually its in German. There are command words give that will make the dog react the same way as if it had a positive hit. They do it all the time to establish probable cause to further search your car, or property.

[@c0athanger]

Which words?

[@coffeshop87]

No , a cop being deceitful. Never heard of such a thing. As long as you can sleep at night doing a job that's supposed to make the world better, yet doing the exact opposite.

[@cindyclay1750]

Alan is a serious world of knowledge, a playful woods walker & a mycological acesset. 😊Thank you Alan... again. 💙

[@dillonhardenburgh6631]

North spore did an amazing job at touching alot of subjects and getting a nice broad overview. alot of information packed into a 1 hour video. I would love to sit down with Alan and pick his brain for details on a few of these topics. So few people recognize the vast pool of knowledge and information that makes up the world of Mushrooms and North spore has been doing an amazing job at spreading the culture allowing people at all levels of knowledge get more into the feild. Keep it up North Spore

[@walkingbacktogardening381]

Alan is an incredible human being. ❤

[@texaspowerman]

Great interview. What a fountain of knowledge and so willing to share.

[@jaimeortega4940]

I for one think Allen is a hero because of his gene sequencing the future of some of these mushrooms could be safe. Safe even in our quest to turn perfectly good nature into more useless shopping malls. Perhaps resurrecting these fungi in the future. Allen is a great man.🍄

[@johanneskarlsson6535]

Everything Alan says is fantastic.

[@joego9519]

How he mentions psilosibe* being a good introduction and catalyst for enjoying and exploring and learning about nature and other mushroom varieties is so true you dont hear it put into words like that its kinda understood by those that have had similar experiences but ive never heard anyone express it i thought that was very cool.. and so so true i wouldn't know half the things i know about different mushrooms if it didn't start with a bag of cubensis in highschool lol

[@joego9519]

And I never appreciate nature more than when I've enjoyed some mushrooms that day and went out and enjoyed me some nature 😊

[@NorthSpore]

We hope you enjoyed this interview as much as we did! You can find the transcript on our blog here: northspore.com/blogs/the-black-trumpet/cataloging-mushrooms-with-alan-rockefeller-taxonomy-dna-sequencing-and-photography

[@chuckheppner4384]

🌄Alan Rockefeller is precious! He's worth a lot, but he's not for sale. Let us meet in the mountains to worship the holy shrump, Let us meditate on being the mushroom we want to see in the world, Let us eat mushrooms and live forever, In the name of the Hyphae, the Spore and the Holy Host, Amen

[@noahhall1606]

Alan is my new hero. Thanks for the amazing video :):):)

[@NorthSpore]

Thanks for watching!

[@suki4410]

Wow. This were interesting storys. Thank you!

[@cmichalski420]

allan is super smart I learned alot from this dude

[@rickquintero8577]

Wonderful person, very inspiring!!

[@johnrobinsonrn]

Allen is an amazing person, he has helped me identify some of my mushrooms in my club. A great educator! Thanks Alan 👍

[@NorthSpore]

Couldn't agree more!

[@Medastep]

Great interview

[@junkettarp8942]

Thanks for the great video.

[@NorthSpore]

You're welcome! We're glad you liked it!

[@ultraultra6726]

Fascinating stuff. Alan Rockefeller is such a treasure. The kind of treasure like Van Gogh, and all the miracle workers who are ahead of their era! I do appreciate his candor in delivering his insight and tremendous beauty! I would like to correct one thing be said... Asserting your god given, constitutionally protected right to avoid self incrimination from fascists who wish to strip you of your freedom, (especially when you're minding your own, perfectly legitimate business, or pursuing your harmless happiness,) does not make you a dick! The bill of rights is not a set of loopholes to jump through. The only dicks are the ones who try to find loopholes to take your freedom.

[@ultraultra6726]

Seriously though, thank you Alan! And thank you to North Spore for spreading this treasure trove of knowledge!

[@peterh.1521]

Right, freedom to every innocent being.

[@laylortehman]

If you were arresting someone with Rockefeller as his last name you would think to make sure that case was air tight lol.

[@necrophagus9]

Dope! Great video!

[@NorthSpore]

Glad you liked it!

[@trollpatrol8453]

I been into nature and medical plants for decades. I was always fascinated with mushrooms, I had a fear of identifying them wrong tho. Which made me super cautious. After the past four years of finding, identifying, and collecting samples and spores I’ve actually started putting them in special spots, one is obviously my yard so I know when I need to check the others. There is such excitement when you can smell the fresh mycelium, before you can even see the spot. Friends think I’m crazy leading them off into the woods, until they see them. Sure some I put there, but others you just catch it on the wind. I have to go see what it is 😂

[@JavierFernandez01]

i do like being in the woods.. i better get out there. ;)

[@katiekane5247]

One of my favorite gingers, next to my grandson. Alan is the perfect straight guy to Joey Santores' humor. It's a wonder how much knowledge is in those guys! Making being intellectually curious cool again in addition to adding to the overall knowledge bank. Great interview! Edit: amphetamines, cocaine & morphine are considered less dangerous than cannabis and psylicybin according to the drug schedule. Given the research showing clear benefit of specifically cannabis, it doesn't belong a schedule 1. Given it's relative safety & low abuse potential, psylicybin doesn't belong there either. Those decisions were based on political agendas, not science. Our FDA has a history of that 🤔

[@IrlamOz]

Mushroom photography is the bomb

[@GiffysChannel]

I wonder what happened to MIMOSA Therapeutics. He was the chief mycologist but the site's domain is up for sale already.

[@GregAvery-uf4oq]

Let's go 💪💪💪💪🌄

[@wtglb]

Interesting!

[@NorthSpore]

Glad you think so!

[@bragg77]

Good job kid.

[@iknownuffing5442]

Alan is So Dope! Awesome guy!. Only suck thing about suing L.E. is settlements are paid by taxpayers, instead of their personal pockets . Still, ANYONE who has had their rights violated Should file a lawsuit.

[@Gunjaroo]

His last name should scare any officer.

[@c0athanger]

Rockefeller isn't his real last name.

[@brodiwheeler7583]

Did you guys find any mushrooms in the woods there this year?Couple hours north of Telluride and the Mushrooms have not really come out at all this Summer… No rain.

[@NorthSpore]

Ya, it was a pretty weak year out there. Some folks said it was the worst in recent memory. Still, we found mushrooms!

[@xXcajunblazeXx]

@@NorthSporeit’s been the worst year in my foraging experience. I guess I’m glad to hear that it’s fairly common

[@pauljackson8319]

HeHeee! fair play to you, you beaut. So nice to hear a story going that way ... Sounds like cheech and chong type of silliness :D

[@Deeznutz002]

Are there any microscopes I can digitally photograph spores inexpensively? Also should people handle fungi unidentified without protection?

[@PRS-qh5jf]

Handling pretty much all mushrooms without protection is fine. They won't hurt you to handle.

[@Deeznutz002]

@@PRS-qh5jf Yeah years ago I found a purple hairy oyster like wood fungi. I touched my eyes while walking shortly after picking it. I felt like a hot iron rode was put in my eye for about a whole 60 seconds, probably lucky it wasn't deadly.

[@breezywilson760]

like how he went 'after five days' in a jail cell real fast

[@PunkChef77]

Do these events take place all over? I'm from Western PA.

[@NorthSpore]

Ya, these days pretty much every region has mushroom festivals. Look up Mycofest!

[@PunkChef77]

@NorthSpore ty so much. I love your channel and what you guys do for the mushroom community. Keep up the great work.

[@poor_impulsive]

What a dude 😎🎉🤘🏼👹🤘🏼🔬🧠☮️🍋

[@NorthSpore]

Alan is the BEST.

[@gingercameronfordcrouch7057]

Can they be foraged in Texas anywhere maybe WesTexas Midland or Odessa. Is there a book of identifying them?

[@NorthSpore]

You should look for foraging guides specific to your region.

[@gregavery3450]

Keep spreading the Mycleim 🍄

[@81vintage]

This is the first ginger ive seen that has a soul

[@wildman2894]

Lots of Knowledge stored in one man's brain can't be good lol.

[@The_Inca_Stargazer]

Seems like talking to the police as soon as you get pulled over would be the best bet. Tell them you are a famous mushroom identifier guy, that you dont have any magic mushrooms, and that they are all for scientific classification using DNA analysis. Maybe show them your website or some of your publications. Seems like after hearing that they would immediately let you go.

[@JavierFernandez01]

what about these yellow houseplant mushrooms? flakey cap. white spore print. yellow to yellowish white all over. edible at all?

[@ASMRGRATITUDE]

Nope. That is a Leucocoprinus.

[@Thegingerbreadm4n]

Leucocoprinus birnbaumii

[@matt33388]

I aspire to be the East Coast version of Allen

[@LarsLarsen77]

I've got a PCR machine and a waterproof macro camera with automatic focus stacking. We should hang out.

[@brandonDuh47]

I've heard many good things about psychedelics like LSD or the mushrooms and their health benefits, I also heard it helps one get through addiction and depression. I'm just wondering where or how I can get my hands on them cause I'll love to give it a try, I'm passing through a state of terrible depression lately

[@somerandomperson360]

Go into nature to find mushrooms :) or you could go to a psytrance festival... also, watch out for scammers online claiming they are some kind of vendor they don't have anything and will ask for gift cards/crypto

[@thorny3218]

Grow your own. Plenty of resources on the net to teach you how. It seems difficult at first but if you can cook you can learn to cultivate. Spores contain no active properties and thus are legal in most places. Or learn to find them. The former is easier for me.

[@mr.giggles4995]

I live in the upper midwest and it's crazy just how many species occur here. And I know where to find them, except those elusive liberty caps.

[@katiekane5247]

​@@thorny3218there's only a few states that you can't get delivery to, mine's one 😢

[@ottoflouer1750]

Ireland is all liberty caps, I'd love some variety but defo not complaining haha

[@thorny3218]

What a rebel. Stole food from a dumpster. 🤣

[@charleshuguley9323]

I suspect that refusing to talk to the police is not always good advice. I think it only applies if you believe you're going to be arrested anyway.

[@youtubedeletedmynamewhybother]

Its Extremely variable. Some cops you can talk to honestly and they will laugh along and be good humans. Other cops are literally LOOKING for trouble. You can usually tell by the first few words they say to you.

[@joshhawn3988]

Im also an IT Professional getting into Mycology as a hobby. small world, Im also white and have a red beard haha. small small world

[@LarsLarsen77]

Alan has almost perfect semantic memory, but almost no episodic memory. I know because I do too.

[@woaken]

What’s your affiliation with the Rockafellers Mr Rockefeller? 🤣

[@NorthSpore]

You know, I somehow forgot to ask him this even though I meant to do so off camera.

[@woaken]

@@NorthSpore That's awesome lol, too bad you forgot! I'm so curious about that! He seems like the most down to earth Rockefeller ever to exist LOL

[@c0athanger]

Rockefeller isn't his real last name.

[@Eddie-xz9bz]

what is his real last name, then? ​@@c0athanger

[@TheDarkArtist66]

Awesome interview, and great info. Dude is a walking encyclopedia. The craziest oxymoron ive ever heard, was "honest police"

[@gingercameronfordcrouch7057]

Did you get your mushrooms back? I am not really into but have heard they are good for microdosing for certain things! Like opening up experience consciousness, releasing....... traumas, stress, anxiety, PTSD, etc.

[@NorthSpore]

Hey got everything back, yes.

[@jamesfirehummer3216]

Anyone know the purpose of those cloaks at 8 seconds?

[@NorthSpore]

Those are costumes from the Telluride Mushroom Festival parade!

[@tvviewer4500]

HE STILL LOOKS 25 YEARS OLD

[@julesl6910]

What's with the weird pronunciation of psilocybe? I grew up and everyone around me did too calling it SILL-O-SIBIN/SILL-O-SIBE, not SALLO-SABEE

[@jenniferd107]

THAT's what you thought was weird? So FUN-J-eye is normal? :D

[@The_Inca_Stargazer]

It would be great to discover and catalog new mushrooms, but you can't pay the bills doing that LOL.

[@NorthSpore]

Unfortunately, you're right. Though, it's an amazing hobby!

[@psychdlictrip]

😅

[@robertmcmanus636]

I really don't think anyone needs to "justify" time spent outdoors. If you must justify it, the health benefits alone do so.

[@TheTubejunky]

I love how HONEST Alan is about how shitty the police were! This isn't anything new but IT PROVES to some "very Naive humans" that they are blue gang members!

[@therealgigi_]

Omg I'm watching this Alan could pass for ex prince Harry of UK 😅😂

[@timwhiting6721]

The process is the punishment.

[@1mm0rtaldreads]

Just fyi the telluride mushroom festival is a complete scam. They charge 400+ to go mushroom hunting a free hobby. As some one who has hosted both larger and smaller events than there festival there is simply no justification for anything over 200 for a festiveal of this size and even that is a big stretch. They rip people off and make it purposefully expensive to gate against those who arent ultra rich.

[@junkettarp8942]

I think Alan is a mushroom.

[@FloridaMan-xu1iw]

Its fung guy not fun gy

[@Thegingerbreadm4n]

It’s fun- guy

[@timwhiting6721]

We are just following orders , say the fascist police officers.

[@ScottWConvid19]

Alan knows mushrooms, but he doesn't know history very well, nor does he understand the difference between "tobacco" and pre-made carcinogenically innoculated cigarettes. It was very difficult to listen to him discussing the Nixon deception, as the war on drugs has always been about monopolizing medicine and raking in the tax money for private prison industry. The tobacco thing... he's either ignorant or he's intentionally perpetuating lies to prevent people from discovering the truth. I really hope that is just that he's ignorant and maybe he just conjured up his narratives in his own mind

[@ASMRGRATITUDE]

Well... don't know truely if they're related but ever heard of Nelson Rockefeller? Alan will always be my go to mushroom man though!

[@c0athanger]

​@@ASMRGRATITUDERockefeller isnt his real last name.

[@canadiangemstones7636]

Sooooo.... tobacco is safe? That what you’re saying?

[@franfranfrancis]

Just not good enough hipsters if you can’t find your own pronunciations for everything

[@edwardgrand]

So who do you think paid for all that in the end? It certainly wasn't the police. Not to mention you tied-up the court system and countless public servants who could have been doing other more important jobs for a year. All that because you had broken the law and didn't want to cooperate? Kind of weird that you would be proud of a story like that.

[@thorny3218]

The police should concentrate on crime.

[@somerandomperson360]

The cops put him in jail for taking rubbish out of a bin and being into mushrooms (not even psilocybes).... A better question is why is there so much waste from big chain shops? If police are not acting within the law, them getting sued, like he said, will reduce the amount of cops who are not doing what they're paid for but using their powers out of spite or with lack of knowledge.

[@brodiwheeler7583]

“Cuz they were dicks!”

[@spocksdaughter9641]

Good point, attempting to communicate rather than being arrogant, was a option. They were belligerent it sounds like for an entire year. It would seems a waste to most people. Because his friend was 'Acting Out' from a previous issue. Anger is always dangerous.

[@cnjhendricks]

I guess Rosa Parks should be ashamed as well, wasting public service time fighting for her rights to sit anywhere on any bus.