Bioluminescent Mushroom Researcher

IPBio is an oasis of rainforest among the ever shrinking Atlantic forest. The people working there truly have a passion for nature, conservation, and community. They do everything they possibly can to ensure your stay is enjoyable, safe and remains focused on these passions. From glowing mushrooms, to monkeys, fish, frogs, and rehabilitating birds and coatis, IPBio has something for everyone in the realm of conservation. Even all of your food scraps are converted into fertilizer for the gardens, from which you can eat fresh lettuce, peppers and pumpkins. IPBio is a truly magical place. During my three month stay, I discovered a new species of Cordyceps mushroom and photographed a novel species of robber fly, among many other wonderful specimens of the wildlife there. The friendships you make here will last a lifetime, maybe more, and the place will draw you back for repeated visits to one of the most amazing places on Earth. Iporanga.

I could not be more pleased with my stay at IPBio. It was by far the best decision I made after finishing my environmental degree. I was able to get exceptional experience for grad school and had a blast every day. Everyone who works there you will find to be incredibly helpful and fun to hang around. There are all kinds of programs in the science field. I had the role of bioluminescent mushroom researcher. I got to go out on hikes looking for new species of these mushrooms as well as work in a lab trying to cultivate them. I loved my job and being able to learn from the staff. My job was like a puzzle. I look at all the information I can on growing mushrooms and then look at all the past projects that have been done at IPBio. I needed to figure out a way to get some of these mushrooms to grow by inventing a new experiment. It was also amazing to learn how to photograph the bioluminescence in the dark room. My fruiting box with Mycena lucentipes logs in it ended up fruiting which was really exciting. My job gave me enough time in the lab for good experience but also brought me in the field which is so much fun. Imran was the biggest help from the day of my interview until I got home safe and sound. The staff all have expertise in different fields making them excellent resources for different things. The place where I stayed was clean and even had some private rooms. I was doing the mushroom researching for three months and had a room all to myself. However, the entire volunteer house really was like a hotel clean and comfy. Outside of work hours, I got to explore the cave capital of Brazil and even see every cave in the guidebook. Imran helps set up these guided tours for outside of work time spent as well. These were incredible experiences. Recalling all of the time spent working at IPBio really makes me miss that place. I will have to go back because it really was a perfect of a trip.

IPBio is an awesome organization. In terms of communication, they do an awesome job considering the challenges of the jungle. In terms of organization, I found the work comfortably structured but also open ended as I was able to design and pursue many of my own projects. While I was there, I had the opportunity to grow 5+ species of never-before-grown species of mushrooms, and I was able to take part in a lot of the same work the professional biologists on the reserve were doing. I was incredibly comfortable once I adjusted, and I felt like part of a family and community in IPBio and in Iporanga. 9/10 highly recommended! The most common complaint I heard during the program was the wifi in the jungle was not the best. But once you get used to it, I found it pretty refreshing. As for future volunteers and interns... The best advice I can give you is to make the most of every moment and to keep a record of your thoughts, feelings, and experiences. Meet and talk to as many people as you can. Learn Portuguese, start with just a few words every day. Make friends, be open-minded, try everything! Learn as much as you can: to make fire anywhere anyhow, to travel for dirt cheap, to ask more questions and talk less, to grow bioluminescent shrooms, to Samba and Forro, to haggle, to make a killer caipirinha, etc. And don't forget to talk to and hang out with the awesome staff, they are some of the most interesting people in the world. Oh and have fun!

I volunteered with IPBIO for roughly a month and I loved it! My main activity has been developing a protocol to culture a bioluminescent fungus testing different humidities (I had been working in biology research for almost 3 years before volunteering) but I have been involved in all sorts of activities such as tree, fish, and bird inventories. All activities are very engaging, educational and fun, and the volunteers coordinators are doing a great job managing the volunteers, promoting week end activities and leading the different projects. Reserva Betary is a beautiful place surrounded by various local amenities like caves and parks, and I met many wonderful people I am sure I am going to keep in touch with. I highly recommend to have the right equipment before arriving (hiking shoes, boots and clothes) as there are no shops surrounding the reserve. The only aspect that could be improved is the lab equipment but I have the impression they get things done.

At IPBIO I spent the majority of my work week developing methods for growing bioluminescent mushroom species endemic to the Atlantic Forest at the Betary Reserve Field Station in conjunction with a lab at Sao Paolo University. Another main part of my work was helping to implement a mushroom inventory process for the reserve to begin to collect, identify and catalogue mushroom species and track and maintain mushroom biodiversity. I completed scientific article research to gain updated and background information on current mushroom species identified in the Atlantic Forest and growing methods across many different cultivated and non-cultivated species. I worked to maintain mushroom mycelium cultures by replication involving media preparation, clean room, Laminar flow hood and autoclave use and sterilization practices. I helped support the Volunteer Manager with integrating and familiarizing new volunteers with the reserve and field station. Aside from all this I had the opportunity to support multiple projects including amphibian monitoring of Bd fungus effects, bioacoustics tracking, camera trap tracking, tree inventory, habitat monitoring of ponds, fish inventory of local stream, aquaponics system setup and gardening tasks. All the work was enjoyable and rewarding and the staff and locals are all very friendly and welcoming. By the end of my stay everyone felt like family. I always had the weekends to look forward to because there were so many tourist activities to take part in and there was always a BBQ happening somewhere.

Living and working in the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest has been a dream! And I’m very sad it’s my last week as I have thoroughly enjoyed working for IPBio and the staff here who have been very friendly and welcoming. Taking some time out to try my hand at being a biological research assistant on a bioluminescent mushroom project has been truly a unique experience, and I have loved going out, trying to find new species, devising my own experiments, and having the opportunity to be more creative too – I designed the new mushroom project logo! Having stayed in such a beautiful place and having learnt some Portuguese, has given me the confidence to keep on exploring Brazil, so next week I’ll be on a beach in Florianopolis!

I was a volunteer for six months at the betary reserve in their bioluminescent mushroom program. The mushroom program itself is great. The nice thing about the mushroom program is that it is very research oriented. I was given some practical skills and guidance and the general idea of what they want to accomplish, and then was left to do the projects rather independently. The reserve is in a nice location, in a lush forest full of animals and birds, so for anyone that likes nature it is perfect. The area the reserve is in is full of caves and waterfalls too, so there is never lack of weekend activities. The staff are extremely supportive and welcoming, but I would recommend learning a bit of Portuguese before coming as it will help with communicating with some members that don't speak english, and other locals. Can't recommend IPBio enough.

Antonia, Germany, 18 years, 3 months as a bioluminescent mushroom researcher When I started looking for volunteer programs abroad focusing on research, there weren't many to find, if at all (with no professional experience on my side). I was very lucky to find the Bioluminescent Mushroom Researching Program and it sounded really cool (I mean glowing mushrooms!). After I applied everything happened fast, their volunteer coordinator replied the next day, I got all the necessary information and we skyped shortly afterwards. So I was to become a bioluminescent mushroom researcher for 3 months (09/16-12/16)! Before and during my stay, IPBio was really taking care, responding quickly, providing all the necessary information and helping where they could. There were only two things I would have liked to know or to have it emphasized: Me and the other "mushroom girl" were the first mushroom volunteers thus we started from scratch and had to experience a lot of failure and the researching was more of a cultivation attempt than "researching" as I had had it in mind. But, the positive side of it was that we were really able to work independently and contribute own ideas that were realised, it was fun! Plus, the whole IPBio team consists of young, partly international, motivated people, always nice to have around. And they were always around since you work together and spend most of your free time together, barbecuing, hiking, drinking a caipirinha from time to time.. They are great! The second thing, I liked to have had emphasized was the fact that you live in a little cabin/bungalow in the Betary Reserve in the middle of nowhere surrounded by trees. That can be cool, but in my case there was only one other volunteer and thank god we liked each other (otherwise we probably would have ended like good old Jack Torrance :D)! The rest of the team lives in town, 6km away. Well, you can like it or you don't, I think it's just important to know that it can get really desolate and isolating if there aren't at least 2-3 other volunteers around, even if the place is stunningly beautiful. More about the mushroom researching: For Sierra (the other volunteer) and me the plan was to try different substrates to cultivate the mushroom on, to find the best and to optimize the cultivation process focusing on other factors like speed of growth, cost etc. After the first round of tests we had to lower our expectations a bit and focus on the sterilization process and other factors that might have caused the failure. In the end we had loads of information and had tried many different ways of doing what we did but unfortunately still couldn't really show a result. But, we decided on the next steps to take, unfortunately for us, they were to be taken by the next mushroom researchers. But I'll keep up and check from Germany how they are doing! :D All in all I had a great time, I was able to meet awesome knew people, learn more about mushrooms and the atlantic rainforest in general and to be responsible for myself in the middle of nowhere, without even speaking Portuguese (what I should have learned in advance however, language can become a real barrier). Plus, IPBio and its volunteer program are really young and still to develop. The things I criticized all relate to the fact that Sierra and me belong to the first volunteers to ever have been there and I really believe that IPBio has a great potential and the right people working there to achieve the improvement and development they are capable of! And they need you next volunteers to get there :) I also think I’m going to come back at some point, when I’m a bit older and the volunteer program a bit further, because it simply is a beautiful place!