Including renowned mycologist Paul Stamets, our full-time in-house R&D staff of eight scientists consists of four Ph.D.s with expertise ranging from mycology, chemistry, and environmental sciences, to cellular and molecular biology. Our team regularly presents their innovative research at scientific conferences and has published 60 peer-reviewed journal articles to date. In addition to being a co-author on 31 peer-reviewed manuscripts, Paul Stamets has authored 8 books on mycology, numerous magazine publications, and holds dozens of patents. Our rigorous, ambitious, and cutting-edge projects cover a broad range of important initiatives, from mycofiltration and mycoremediation, to using beneficial mushrooms to support bee populations and mycelium-based supplements to support human health.*
— R&D TEAM —
Chase Beathard, Ph.D., MBA
Chase is the Director of Research & Development at Fungi Perfecti, where he leads research across fungal biology, chemistry, and molecular and cell biology. He holds a Ph.D. in Botany from Washington State University, where his doctoral research focused on plant biochemistry and understanding and optimizing plant developmental and stress responses, and a B.S. in Biology from Texas State University with a focus on Plant Physiology. His passion for the fungal wellness industry inspired him to pursue an M.B.A. from Missouri State University, where he sharpened his background in leadership and management.
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Before graduate school, Chase spent four years as a plant physiologist in a high-throughput screening environment, helping develop improved agronomic traits in crops. Since joining Fungi Perfecti, he has helped establish the company’s molecular biology and genetics laboratory and expand its preclinical cell culture capabilities.
Chase is passionate about growing and studying fungi to better understand how they can support human health and wellness, with research spanning immunology and neurobiology, fungal cultivation, and the influence of cultivation on fungal chemistry.
In his free time, Chase enjoys being outdoors with his large family, spending time on his hobby farm, and taking care of his garden and animals. His favorite mushroom is lion’s mane, which stands out to him as a fascinating example of the unique biological potential of mycelium and its fermented substrate.
Patrick Bennett, Ph.D.
Patrick Bennett is a Research Scientist leading the Fungal Biology division at Fungi Perfecti. He holds a Ph.D. in Botany and Plant Pathology from Oregon State University and a B.S. in Biology (Ecology) from Cal Poly Humboldt (formerly Humboldt State University). His doctoral and postdoctoral research focused on population genetics and genomics of fungi causing economically and ecologically important diseases of conifer trees. He previously worked as a Plant Pathologist and Research Plant Pathologist at the USDA Forest Service prior to joining the R&D Team at Fungi Perfecti in 2025. Patrick’s work has focused primarily on DNA-based identification, molecular taxonomy, bioinformatics, data science, and fungal genetics/genomics, with an emphasis on leveraging these approaches to better understand and optimize fungal cultivation and production.
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Outside of work, Patrick enjoys spending time with his family, hiking, fishing, kayaking, camping, and mushroom hunting. Lately, he has been particularly interested in learning about fungi such as Ganoderma species and Agarikon (Laricifomes officinalis), which serve important ecological roles in forests and have been highly prized for centuries by human cultures around the world due to their many beneficial properties.
Kyle Meyer, Ph.D.
Kyle is a Research Scientist at Fungi Perfecti. He holds a Ph.D. in Earth and Environmental Science from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; an M.S. in Geological Science from the University of Texas, Austin; and a B.S. in Geology from the University of California, Davis. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow in Biochemistry at Portland State University working on a range of projects including enhancing the expression of bioactive fungal secondary metabolites of Hericium species.
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His work at Fungi Perfecti includes research across all of the company’s production species and beyond, with a particular interest in fungal cultivation and the production of bioactive secondary metabolites. When not in the lab, Kyle enjoys spending time with family and friends, cooking and baking, reading, hiking, climbing, music, enjoying nature, and, of course, foraging and observing fungi.
Kyle’s favorite gourmet mushrooms constitute a tie between Hericium erinaceus, Boletus edulis, Sparassis radicata, and Hypomyces lactifluorum. But when it comes to picking a true favorite, Kyle said, “It’s too hard to pick a favorite fungus when we have so many to appreciate… everything from yeasts to enigmatic species such as Psathyrella aquatica.”
Lizi Doar, B.S.
Lizi is a Research Technician who joined the Fungi Perfecti team in early 2021. She received a B.S. in Biology from the University of California, Davis, and has a voracious multidisciplinary curiosity.
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Lizi previously worked in science communication and education. While at Fungi Perfecti, she has focused on characterization of the effect that lion's mane, agarikon, and other species have on the human immune system.
In her free time, Lizi enjoys reading widely and weirdly, watching plants grow, and experimenting in the kitchen.
Jacqueline Morgado, B.F.A.
Jacqueline Morgado is a Research Assistant at Fungi Perfecti and holds a B.F.A in Media Arts & Animation from the Art Institute of Seattle. Prior to her time at Fungi Perfecti, Jacqueline worked as a visual artist. She later interned at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center as a UX Designer and branded their collaborative seminars with UW Medicine and The Allen Institute.
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Jacqueline’s lifelong curiosity about nature coupled with her concern for the environment eventually led her to the work of Paul Stamets, catalyzing her passion for fungi and their potential to restore damaged ecosystems. Determined to forge a different path, Jacqueline began a new journey and worked in Customer Service at Fungi Perfecti for 5.5 years where her ardor for mushroom cultivation inspired her to learn sterile tissue culture. She began searching for and isolating new wild strains of Agarikon for the FP culture library, and joined the R&D team in 2023. Jacqueline spends nearly every day in the lab where she clones, onboards, and manages strains. She devotes most of her time to working with Agarikon and Lion’s Mane.
Unsurprisingly, one of Jacqueline’s favorite saprophytic mushrooms is Agarikon (Fomitopsis officinalis = Laricifomes officinalis)! Although very slow growing, it’s a robust, immune-supporting mushroom, with resilient fruit bodies able to live up to a century in the wild, often under harsh conditions. It’s both a teacher and trickster, coming in many forms. As for the mycorrhizae, she’s deeply fond of the Violet Webcap (Cortinarius violaceus); seeing this species for the first time was the genesis of her love for mushrooms.*
In her spare time Jacqueline enjoys primitive camping, gardening with plants and mushrooms, playing in her tiny lab at home, and of course drawing flora, fauna, and funga!
