Giuliana Furci

Giuliana Furci OSI (born Giuliana Maria Furci George-Nascimento; born 12 August 1978) is a field mycologist, speaker, author, and founder and executive director of the Fungi Foundation. She is a Harvard University associate, National Geographic Explorer, Dame of the Order of the Star of Italy, deputy chair of the IUCN Fungal Conservation Committee, and author of several titles including a series of field guides to Chilean fungi and co-author of titles such as the 1st State of the World's Fungi and the publication delimiting the term “funga” and the 3F Proposal - Fauna, Flora & Funga.She has published two field guides on Chilean fungi: Guías de campo Hongos de Chile Volumen I and Volumen II. Giuliana has held consulting positions in U.S. philanthropic foundations as well as full-time positions in international and Chilean marine conservation non-profits. She sits on the Board of Fundación Acción Fauna and Los Cedros Fund, on the advisory board of the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN), and other organizations. Giuliana has received several distinctions including being named a Fellow of the International Mycological Association in 2024, the 2022 Buffett/National Geographic Leadership in Conservation in Latin America Award, 2022 recipient of the Steward of Biodiversity Award from the McKenna Academy, Gordon and Tina Wasson Award from the Mycological Society of America, the 2013 Presidents Award from the International Society for Fungal Conservation. As a field mycologist, she helped describe three new species: ''Amanita galactica'', ''Cortinarius chlorosplendidus'', and ''Psilocybe stametsii''. She has conducted mycological expeditions in close to 20 countries. Provided by Wikipedia