Meet the Experts
Throughout the day, you'll have the opportunity to engage with leading experts in the field who will share their knowledge through captivating talks, interactive workshops, and live demonstrations. From the science of truffle cultivation to the artistry of cooking with these prized fungi, our experts will guide you through a fascinating journey that combines tradition with modern ecological practices.
The festival schedule is packed with diverse activities, ensuring there's something for everyone - whether you're here to learn, taste, or train your truffle-hunting dog.
Antoine Bouffard
It will be an honour to have one of the pioneering, world leaders of truffle cultivation and truffle tree producers present at the festival this year. Antoine Bouffard from Agri-Truffe will be doing an individual talk and then be joining a panel with two other specialists in there own right to discuss many new developments within this industry and new management techniques which are currently taking place here in the Uk. Taking a closer look at unexpected mycorrhizal relationships, benefits and interactions.
Antoine started with Agri-Truffe in 2015, he started working in the greenhouses with the truffle trees and in 2017 he started working within all of the stages of production (inoculation, watering, general maintenance). Antoine's initial background was in law and business school.
Since 2020, Antoine has come twice a year to visit people who show an interest to plant truffle trees because in the UK where there is chalk or limestone it has huge potential for planting trees and getting truffles.
In the UK Agritruffe has a partnership with Truffle UK, a company founded by Nigel Hadden-Paton and Adrian Cole.
Agri-Truffe is one of the oldest producers in France and over the years, a partnership has been developed between Agri-Truffe, who brings unique experience and knowledge to INRA (National Institute for Agronomic Research). The relationship brings research progress to the forefront of this industry. Agri-Truffe built a partnership with INRA, leading to the birth of the first truffle mycorrhizal trees, after 25 years of research.
"We make a list of our seeds origins and all truffles we use to inoculate our plants : in the end, there is a traceability for every relationship tree/truffle which is established." Says Antoine.
At the end of production, an Agri-Truffe tree will be controlled 10 times, the last one done by INRA.
Melissa Waddingham
Description: Sustainable hunting, duty of care and the law
A professional truffle hunter and wild mushroom picker. Melissa has been in the industry for 16 years. In the spring and autumn months running mushroom forays, truffle hunts, talks, courses and throughout the year providing truffle hound training days for your truffle hounds to be at beginner, intermediate or experienced level. Melissa founded the Great British Truffle Festival in 2022-2023 and has re-launched the festival under a new name and in partnership with Michael Corcoran. The Great British Truffle Festival. Melissa offers truffle hound Zoom courses which have been a great addition to her one-to-one or group classes. Melissa also manages existing woodlands for the sustainable production of truffles, carries out woodland surveys to establish their presence and records fungi species for landowners unaware of what they have on their land. Melissa is also a passionate cook and especially enjoys creating interesting and flavoursome food for clients on her forays or for private events and festivals, recipes always including wild fungi and truffles.
Truffle And Mushroom Hunter
@truffleandmushroomhunter
Sussex Exclusive
@truffleandmushroomhunter
Jesper Launder
Description: Microscopes, Mycology and Truffles
Jesper developed a fascination for fungi as a child after a couple of memorable fungi-related events; a magical mushroom foray with close family, skipping through the woods collecting mushrooms for the basket (the intention had been for the adults to identify them using a nature ID book, but they sadly ended up in the bin, unidentified). Then spotting, and collecting a mushroom seen on the way home from school, knowing it matched perfectly one of the species on a mushroom poster on the fridge at home. The perfect Shaggy Ink Cap was then eaten with his family, the first time Jesper had enjoyed eating a mushroom! What followed was a rapid descent into the mushroom-shaped wormhole of fungi obsession. As an adult Jesper trained as a medical herbalist, developing a particular interest in the medicinal mushrooms. Edible mushrooms had always been a strong interest and Jesper has been sharing knowledge and experience on fungi ID courses for the last 25 years. In more recent years, following a handful of random truffle finds on forays, and independently, he has been honing the skills of finding truffles without a dog, primarily by looking for evidence of truffle excavation by foraging animals. Unearthing one of the many possible native species is both thrilling and fascinating. It's very much like a lottery; you simply don't know what your find is until it's uncovered, smelt, or in some cases, until it is under the microscope.
jesperlaunder.com
@jesperlaunder
@jesperlaunder
@jesper.launder
@launderjesper
Sarah J Ebdon
Description: Microscopes, Mycology and Truffles
S-J will be working alongside Jesper with the microscope workshop. S-J is an artist, educator and lifelong mycophile whose fascination just gets bigger as she learns more about what she doesn’t know. She first encountered fungi as a child when introduced to the joy of foraging mushrooms from the garden by her Mum and has explored a deepening connection to the local landscape through the fungi that live there ever since. In recent years diving into the realm of microscopy has opened up new layers of wonder and excitement. She sees the awe-inspiring architecture of nature as a place where art and science collide. S-J is a regular contributor to Bucks Fungus Group (http://www.bucksfungusgroup.org.uk/) and their outreach work. She loves to explore ways of learning and noticing and seeing awe sparked in others. Believing that when we connect in a sensorial way to the world around us that’s when we become truly alive.
YT - @americantruffle
Louis Cohern
Louis is a PhD student at Imperial College London studying how mycorrhizal fungi and plant roots communicate with each other at the cellular level: How do fungi find their plant hosts in soil? How do fungi communicate with specific plants, and how do plants respond? Having previously studied Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge, Louis set up the Cambridge University Mycological Society to disperse his passion for fungal biology to the public. Fundamentally, Louis is fascinated by the dark, largely unknown world of soil, and looks forward to answering any and all questions you might have about this fascinating and ancient relationship between plant and fungus.
Louis will also be joining a panel of other experts to discuss how this knowledge can be used to improve truffle cultivation and truffle woodland regeneration.
Truffle Aroma Workshop
Description: At the festival we will be exploring the heady powerful aroma of truffle through breathwork, meditation and the resonant tones of sound, exploring the feel good factor of those phenolic compounds in the very safe hands and renowned Victoria Cooper - In Tune Mind Method.
Victoria Cooper is a shamanic practitioner and sound healer with nearly 30 years of experience in somatic therapy, yoga, music therapy, breathwork, and energy work. She developed the inTune Mind Method, a multidimensional healing approach combining bodywork, sound, and mind practices to release unconscious patterns. At the festival, Victoria will guide a unique exploration of truffles’ potential mood-altering effects through meditation, breathwork, and sound. This session offers a transformative, sensory journey blending science, healing, and the aroma of truffles.
