Claire DeLeo
Boulder, Colorado
I am a professional plant ecologist in Colorado for over 20 years specializing in ecological restoration in Boulder County. I have been foraging for wild mushrooms for about that same time. In 2010, I discovered The Telluride Mushroom Festival! I attended from 2010-2015, and after a year break in 2016 to visit Yellowstone, my husband and I are back again this year. In 2013, I won the Parade contest as a Hawk's wing mushroom (Sarcadon imbricatus). The next year in 2014, my family won the group Parade contest as Chaga! We all dressed up as birch trees infected with Chaga mushrooms! As 2014 TMF Executive Director Rebecca Fyffe said, "that birch always wins!" I love mushrooms!!