This case study is a fully developed curriculum for undergraduate and graduate university students.

This teaching case study examines a 3-interdisciplinary research project on chanterelle mushroom production and harvesting on Washington State's Olympic Peninsula in 1993-1995. 

The case is divided into three sections:

1) A narrative which includes the theoretical basis and definitions of sustainability, the research study process, and major tenets of sustainability research.

2) A Teaching Notes packet which explains how students, resource managers, scientists, and other can use the case study to develop their own interdisciplinary and sustainability studies.

3) A set of 64 slides with captions illustrating examples of nontimber forest product resources in the Pacific Northwest.


Abstract

This teaching case study examines how a three-year U.S. Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Mushroom Study was developed and implemented.  The study took place between 1993 and 1996 on the Olympic Peninsula in the state of Washington.  There are several reasons why the project is excellent for generating discussion on forest sustainability.  First, the study was designed to promote sustainable natural and human communities and involve multiple stakeholders with widely varying styles and knowledge of forest management.  Second, research focused on a wild edible mushroom which is a significant part of an understudied yet rapidly expanding area with growing commercial, economic, and political importance.  Third, the study relied upon an interdisciplinary and collaborative research approach that united social and natural scientists from academic, government, and commercial sectors.  The case study is divided into five sections.  Section 1 provides an historical context for understanding research on sustainability and discusses major theoretical concerns regarding sustainability.  Section 2 examines the team's motivation for creating the study and details the twists and turns the team experienced in moving from an initial idea to an accepted research proposal.  Sections 3 and 4 discuss, respectively, key aspects of the study's biological and socio-economic components.  These range from choices about research design and methodology, how problems were dealt with as they were encountered, and how the components intersected with each other.  Section 5 concludes the case study by discussing the roles and responsibilities of cooperators and stakeholders; it also reviews implications of the ways in which stakeholders were or were not involved.