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As writer and fungi expert Maria Pinto set out on a hike at the Conard Environmental Research Area (CERA), she was thinking about mushrooms, as she usually does. But Pinto wasn’t expecting to discover a specimen of Rhodotus palmatus, or the “wrinkled peach,” as it is commonly known. 

“It was on my bucket list, and lo and behold, there it was.” Pinto says. 

Pinto was a guest of the English ���貹���ٳ���Գ�’s&�Բ�����;Writers@91���� program and 91����’s first environmental writer-in-residence at CERA. She was also the first visitor to stay in the newly renovated CERA residence. 

“The quiet, the welcome, the warmth — I’ve been enjoying myself very much,” Pinto says.

A Love of Fungi

The Boston-area writer and educator is a mycophile — someone who loves fungi, especially mushrooms. As Pinto was contemplating her trip to Iowa, her thoughts focused on fungi. “The first thing I thought was, what am I going to find? What am I going to see?” Pinto says. “How many people are studying the mushrooms here? … Are there any edibles up right now? Has it been dry?”

Pinto loves to share the excitement and enthusiasm she has for mushrooms with others. “If my writing can get folks to want to get up and move and go see what’s out there, then that’s the highest honor,” she says.

Pinto writes primarily fiction but has ventured into nonfiction with her newest book, Fearless, Sleepless, Deathless: What Fungi Taught Me about Nourishment, Poison, Ecology, Hidden Histories, Zombies, and Black Survival (UNC Press, 2025). 

Pinto spent almost a week at 91���� in October, visiting Kathy Jacobson’s Fungal Biology class, holding a reading of her work, conducting a writing workshop, and engaging with students and faculty 

She also led a mushroom walk at CERA. Emma Stefanacci ’22, who works in the Office of Communications and Marketing, says the mushroom walk was a wonderful way to spend a fall afternoon. “I didn’t know much about mushrooms at all, so it was great to learn about the different types and start noticing them more.”

A Quiet Place to Write

Pinto says she appreciated the comfortable, modern CERA residence as well as the peace and beauty of the landscape. “This is just such an interesting habitat, and I’ve never been to Iowa before. I’ve rarely been to the Midwest,” she says. “It’s clearly a special place.”

Associate Professor of English Hai-Dang Phan, who is also director of the Writers@91���� program, says he sees this as a “regenerative residence.” “These environmental writers not only give to our campus community, through readings, workshops, class visits, and community engagement, like Friday’s fall mushroom and bird walk, but we also give them the gift of time and space through the form of a short-term residency, so they can continue to do their vital work. It's about reciprocity and restorative practices.”  

Professor of Biology and CERA Director Peter Jacobson hopes that Pinto will be the first of many artists, scholars, and others to take advantage of the CERA residence. With a grant from the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust and an anonymous gift from an alum who toured CERA during Reunion, the College has been able to make many improvements at CERA, including the renovations to the CERA residence. It’s now an attractive, comfortable space with a modern kitchen, bathroom, and laundry room. 

Still, Jacobson says, it’s the setting and the view out onto the landscape that make the residence so extraordinary. He hopes that the availability of the CERA residence will help attract guests from many disciplines. 

“We feel really lucky to have been able to pull this off,” Jacobson says about the renovation project. “It’s going to be really exciting over this next year and beyond to see what people do with it.”