The Sclerotia Project
Sclerotium [skle-ro-she-um] plural: sclerotia A hardened fungal structure built to survive difficult conditions until better times return.
What is this?
The Sclerotia project is a grassroots fund for mycological science and conservation created by mycology graduate students in 2025 in the face of funding cuts and institutional challenges. Each annual Sclerotium (in 2025 we raised $15k) is invested for 100 years, then distributed in the form of grants open to the public to support mycological research and conservation efforts.
Read about the first SclerotiumWhy 100 years?
A century is simple and memorable, it gives compound interest time to work, and donors give only to benefit future generations. The Sclerotia Project is about making a hopeful future for mycology, not about us in the short term.
This year's Sclerotium 2026
Our goal is to raise $5,000 from the mycological community
Last year, our smallest donation size was $1. If you can, please consider donating to the 2026 Sclerotium. Every dollar counts, and every donor is helping to create a hopeful future for mycology.
Last year hundreds of donors contributed to the first Sclerotium, and the fund was officially started and invested with MSA! We hope to continue this experiment in long-term stewardship with Sclerotium 2026, and we hope you will join us.
Sclerotext
Messages for the funfolk of 2126
The project is also creating a time capsule of messages from today's fungal community to fungal scientists a century from now. What would you like to say to the funfolk of 2126?
About us
We are mycology students and mycophiles.
We started this because we want mycology to have a future beyond our own careers, but this project is not meant to be about us.
Contact: sclerotiaproject@gmail.com
Reach out if you have questions, want to help, or want to talk about starting similar projects for other fields of science!
