Contact
Leopoldstr. 11a, 4. OG
80802 Munich
Email:
alison@alisonpouliot.com
Website:
https://alisonpouliot.com/
Alison Pouliot is an ecologist, author, and professional environmental photographer and film maker with research interests in mycology, ecology, visual representation of environmental change, and human interactions with the natural world. She is active in Australian and international biodiversity conservation and research and her writing and images appear in both academic and popular literature. Pouliot is a sessional lecturer in Australia and internationally across a range of photographic, environmental, and ecological themes and has presented at over 800 seminars, workshops, and forays within academic, government, and nongovernment spheres. Her image archive can be found on her website.
Pouliot obtained her PhD from Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University (ANU) in 2015. Her thesis explored perceptions of fungi across hemispheres. Since then she has written three books on fungi, The Allure of Fungi, Wild Mushrooming, and, most recently, Underground Lovers: Encounters with Fungi, and has contributed chapters and images to several other publications. Two upcoming books, Funga Obscura (UNSW Press) and Mushroom Day (University of Chicago Press), will be published in 2025.
As the first of RCC’s funded visiting professors, Pouliot will be developing several workshops and masterclasses that explore visual perceptions and portrayals of environmental issues. She is also completing two book manuscripts on fungi with the University of Chicago Press and University of New South Wales Press. As the autumn kicks in and fungi appear, Pouliot will run various forays on forest and fungal ecology.
Selected Publications:
- Underground Lovers: Encounters with Fungi. Sydney: NewSouth Publishing, 2023.
- Meetings with Remarkable Mushrooms: Forays with Fungi across Hemispheres. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2023.
- “’The Fungal Awakening’: How We Came to Love (and Fear) Fungi.” The Guardian, March 18, 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/mar/19/the-fungal-awakening-how-we-came-to-love-and-fear-fungi.
- with Tom May. Wild Mushrooming: A Guide for Foragers. Melbourne: CSIRO Publishing, 2021.
- “Rethinking Garden Fungi – A Foray at Retford.” Australian Garden History 30, no. 4 (2019): 12–15.
- The Allure of Fungi. Melbourne: CSIRO Publishing, 2018.