The key element to an amazing club are the people behind the scenes. The men and women who volunteer their time and give freely of their knowledge because of a passion they share, as well as a desire to bring others to the world of fungi.
The Pikes Peak Mycological Society management and board members work year round in order to make our club the best club in the West. Even in the dead of winter, we’re planning, scouting and learning for the season ahead. During the fruiting season, we’re scouting in high gear, searching for places to foray with our wonderful members.
When the mushrooms fruit, we move quickly because there’s no time to waste. Colorado produces some of the most exquisite fungi in the world, but our climate isn’t always conducive for them to grow. When they grow- we go!
Without further ado, meet the 2024 Pikes Peak Mycological Society board members:
Jennifer Bell – Donor Relations Officer
Jennifer Bell, Donor Relations Officer and past President for the Pikes Peak Mycological Society, has traveled the world and found that Colorado Springs at 6,500 feet in the shadow of Cheyenne Mountain, next door neighbor to the magnificent Pikes Peak, is the place she wants to call home. She explains the main tenet of her life with lyrics from the traditional American folk tune –-”You have to have been everywhere in order to figure out where you belong.”
A self proclaimed fungi lover, Jennifer has done many things throughout her life, including music performance, morning radio, marketing, sales, stand-up comedy, trail runner, ski instructing and patrolling. But, what she loves doing more than anything is run up and down hills and through cottonwood river bottoms searching for fungal growth in the state of Colorado.
For the last few years, Jennifer has been President of the Pikes Peak Mycological Society. She found the position exciting because she was able to share what she’s learned and had the opportunity to network and expand her knowledge with fungi experts who have much to teach of the mysteries of mushrooms.
Less than seven percent of the world’s fungi have been discovered and described. That is to say, even a citizen scientist, such as herself, can have an effect on this wonderful world.
The key element to an amazing club are the people behind the scenes. The men and women who volunteer their time and give freely of their knowledge because of a passion they share, as well as a desire to bring others to the world of fungi.
The Pikes Peak Mycological Society board members work year round in order to make our club the best club in the West. Even in the dead of winter, we’re planning, scouting and learning for the season ahead. During the fruiting season, we’re scouting in high gear, searching for places to foray with our wonderful members.
When the mushrooms fruit, we move quickly because there’s no time to waste. Colorado produces some of the most exquisite fungi in the world, but our climate isn’t always conducive for them to grow. When they grow- we go!
Jennifer has served on the PPMS board as club secretary and Vice President, President and now in her new role as Donor Relations Officer.
James Chelin – President
James Chelin is a computer science professional, coder and a small business owner in Colorado Springs. 
He is the mastermind behind, and creator of, coloradomushrooms.com, an excellent online resource for mushroom identification. Don’t mistake him for your average computer nerd, however. James is an avid outdoorsman, hunter and fisherman, as well.
James is a fungi identification ace, making him an excellent guide on forays. Since joining PPMS in 2019, he has led and organized nearly every foray for our club. He was featured in a 2011 New York Times article about mushroom hunting in Colorado, sharing his mushroom hunting capabilities. James’ late Aunt Tina–a resident of southern Colorado–taught James the basics of frontier mycology. James, in turn, is passing that lore onto his two teenage boys and to the many mushroom hunters who foray with the Pikes Peak Mycological Society.
In 2022, Mr. Chelin became Vice President of PPMS, and is the new 2024 President. Because of his rare gift of being able to organize large numbers of rabid mushroom fans, he still leads nearly all of our forays, and is the organizer of the annual PPMS camping foray. As if this wasn’t enough, he is capable of producing culinary miracles on a camp stove at 10,000 feet with wild foraged fungi and other edible plants.
James’ goal is to make PPMS an even more phenomenal club.
Beth Leake – Treasurer
Raised in Madison, WI, Beth came to Colorado to be closer to her grandchildren and for her job she has recently retired from, as the Military Affairs Council Coordinator with the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Corporation.
Beth Leake is the smiling, modest, sunny, kind type. But all that sweetness and light hides the fierce strength of a warrior woman and a competitive morel hunter the sight of which leaves grown foragers shaking in their boots.Beth comes from Wisconsin, the state where morels grow like scrub oak does in Colorado.
Ms. Leake has a closet full of awards including trophies from the Midwest Morel Hunting Championship and the Illinois State Morel Hunting Championship. PPMS has bragging rights, as we have the only club treasurer who won the coveted Humongous Fungus Award from the National Morel Hunting Championship in Boyne, MI.
Beth made an important mycological discovery in 2017, having found the very first butyriceps pultricepus (butter bolete) in Colorado in her yard in Rockrimmon. World famous author and mycologist, David Arora, spent two years sequencing the DNA to confirm the find.
Beth’s vision for the future of PPMS is to continue the legacy of Brian Barzee’s mother and the founder of our club, Lee Barzee, by educating young and old on everything fungi!
Alyssa Hartson – Marketing
A true Colorado native, Alyssa has always spent a great deal of time in the woods. Growing up in Colorado gave her a deep appreciation for nature and its ability to heal one’s soul and fill the pantry.
Alyssa first became interested in fungi in 2014 during an abnormally rainy spring. That year, mushrooms were popping up all over the place. She received “Mushrooms of the Rocky Mountain Region” as a gift, and so her love affair with fungi began.
Alyssa was the Pikes Peak Mycological Society Secretary from 2019-2022, and is excited for her new role handling marketing.
Her vision for PPMS is to work with the other board members to continue the club’s mission of helping others gain knowledge of the many benefits of fungi, and how to be more environmentally responsible.
Brain Barzee – Board Member & Mushroom ID Expert
Brian is a well known and respected man in the world of mycology, locally and nationally. As the son of PPMS founder, Lee Barzee, Brian has been immersed in the fungi life since he can remember. There is rarely a fungi that Brian does not know how to identify. He has contributed an unbelievable amount of knowledge to mycology and is an indispensable resource for our club.
In addition to his work in mycology, Brian also volunteers for Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center.
Ben Kinsley – Board Member and past PPMS President (2017-2021)
Ben, an artist and educator, was born and raised in “The heart of it all”- Ohio. He came to Colorado for a teaching position in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts at UCCS.
Ben first discovered fungi in 2015 when he was introduced to a folk tradition in the Adirondacks (NY) of collecting and etching artist conks (Ganoderma applanatum) to commemorate hikes. People had collections of artist conks with drawings, names, and dates going back many years, and they discovered two of the artist conks in his family’s cabin – one from 1935 and one from 1937. A desire to continue this tradition and search for these fungi naturally led to noticing all of the fungal life around him.
Ben’s advice to beginners is to find a field guide specific to your area, join your local mycological society, and go on forays!
Jessica Langley – Art
Jessica Langley was raised in Mansfield, OH and came to Colorado with her partner after he was offered a job at UCCS. She first became interested in fungi while living in NYC. She and her partner, had the good fortune to go on their very first foray ever with Gary Lincoff in Central Park. She remembers how amazed she felt to see the diversity of fungi in the middle of the city, likening it to an easter egg hunt. During that first foray, they gathered a variety of edible mushrooms and Gary’s enthusiasm and kindness towards her was so welcoming that she was instantly hooked.
One of her most memorable experiences was her first burn-morel foray with Brian Barzee. She recalls her whole body hurting because they were picking up so many mushrooms. They gathered enough that day to be able to share with their friends and family and still have many morels left to enjoy for the following years.
In Jessica’s professional life, she is an artist, curator, designer, and educator. The educator side of her, along with her friendly demeanor, makes her a valuable addition to both the club, and as a senior board member.
Jessica’s advice for anyone just beginning to discover the world of fungi, is to go on forays with their local mycological society, talk to more experienced people, and read the books, such as “Mushrooms of the Rocky Mountain Region”.
Her vision for the future of the Pikes Peak Mycological Society is that through education, we can motivate people to take care of the planet for future generations, to have a more mindful approach to how we interact with our environment – that is isn’t all about conquering a mountain, or exploiting the forest for what it can give us.The study of mycology is about learning how all living things are intrinsically connected and mutually beneficial.
Jennifer Poe – Secretary
Jennifer was born and raised in Colorado Springs and has always felt happiest wandering the woods and mountains near town to meet all the fascinating flora, fauna, and fungi we get to call our neighbors! For her day job, Jennifer works at the University of Colorado as the Program Director of Research and Faculty Affairs and director of the Center for Student Research. She occasionally moonlights as a psychology instructor as well. If that doesn’t keep her busy enough, she also helps her partner on carpentry projects ranging from custom record shelves to entire houses.
Jennifer joined PPMS in 2021 after learning about the organized forays and tries to make it to as many as possible during the season. The opportunities to walk around the forest with this fun group and learn from their wide knowledge base is one of the best parts of being a member of PPMS. A few of Jennifer’s favorite things about mushrooms are the surprise/excitement of finding them (seriously, it seems like they jump out of nowhere sometimes), trying new ways of cooking with them, and learning from and about all their deep connections with the ecosystem.