Andy MacKinnon. Andy is a forest ecologist who lives in Metchosin,
British Columbia, Canada. Since December 2014, he’s also served as a
Municipal Councillor in Metchosin.

After completing graduate work in mycology (the study of fungi) at the
University of British Columbia in 1982, Andy worked on-and-off as a
forest ecologist for the BC Forest Service until his retirement in 2015.
While at the Forest Service, Andy was responsible for ecosystem
classification and mapping and for a program of forest ecology
research focused on old growth structure and composition, effects of
climate change, and BC’s native plants, fungi and lichens. His recent
research interests include ecology of BC’s ectomycorrhizal fungal
species. He was lead BC scientist for Environment Canada’s 2017
ranking of Canada’s threatened and endangered fungal species.
Andy has taught rainforest ecology field courses in Bamfield and Tofino
BC (for the University of Victoria) and Haida Gwaii (for the University
of BC). He has also taught mushroom identification courses in Tofino
(for the Rainforest Education Society) and in Victoria.

He is co-author of six best-selling books about plants of western North America,
and of the just-released "Mushrooms of British Columbia" He’s
an Adjunct Professor at Simon Fraser University and a (retired)
Professional Forester and Professional Biologist in BC. Andy was
awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science degree by Simon Fraser
University in 2013. He is past-president of the South Vancouver Island
Mycological Society (SVIMS), and an enthusiastic participant, speaker
and field trip leader for various mushroom festivals in southwestern BC
each autumn.