About Me
Danielle Stevenson is a multidisciplinary scientist, mycologist and environmental problem-solver who works with soils, fungi, plants and people to address waste and pollution in creative and circular ways. She has over 15 years of experience in research, design, implementation and management of bioremediation projects. Danielle holds a PhD in Environmental Toxicology from the University of California, Riverside, and her dissertation was about “Phyto-Mycoremediation of Brownfields in Southern California”. She is the founder and director of D.I.Y. Fungi (since 2012) offering mycological education, consultation, mushroom cultures, and mycoremediation and waste management research, and Healing City Soils (est. 2015) with the Compost Education Centre to provide soil metal testing, resources, and community bioremediation for people growing food. She founded a youth Bioremediation workforce development program with Friends of the LA River which is now in its third year and is expanding with similar community trainings around California. Danielle currently serves on the Department of Toxic Substances Control's Equitable Community Revitalization Grant (ECRG) Treatment Technology Council (TTC) and the Board of Corenewal. Danielle is passionate about science communication and community science and her collaborative projects bridge fields and disciplines from art, ecology, soil science, policy, toxicology and remediation, not unlike the mycorrhizal fungi she studies which bridge plant communities.
Mission Statement
I do impactful work to address interconnected environmental problems of waste and soil and water pollution, especially where they interact with food systems, ecological systems and community well-being.
Comfortable in the lab, the greenhouse and the field, I am most excited about working on contaminated sites and developing applications to address toxic wastes and soil and water pollution in ways that are ecologically regenerative, community-accessible, impactful, and scalable.
I share my knowledge and expertise about soil science, plants, fungi, microbes, ecology, bio-phyto-and myco-remediation and restoration, waste management, agriculture, farming and food systems through offering:
education
consulting, and
collaboration
Values Driven
I value applied scientific approaches that bridge ecological remediation and restoration and engage communities in collaborations involving industry, government, citizens, community organizations and academic institutions.
I work in ways that build local capacity, skills and resources to regenerate healthy soils, waters, landscapes in ways that support economic, physical, and ecological well-being regionally.
My approaches seek to truly address pollution and contamination, and that integrate multiple stages and tools as appropriate, and are generative and responsive to and driven by local needs and objectives.
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“Until now there has been no organized local response to the huge obstacle of heavy-metal contaminants in our urban soil. Kudos to Danielle Stevenson for organizing a neighbourhood approach to soil testing, and setting up DIY Fungi. Mushrooms specific to the contaminant can remove toxins much more effectively than plants can, but making it happen is much trickier. I’m surprised and heartened to read, in Sunday’s op-ed, about someone taking on this daunting task, and I urge readers to support her efforts.”
- Bill Metcalfe, Former chairman of Lifecycles