Alannah Johnson

Alannah is a mycologist and biomimicry MSc student at Arizona State University (ASU). She graduated with a BA in biology from the University of Alaska Southeast and it was during her undergraduate studies that she fell in love with studying and working with fungi. Alannah had been introduced to the discipline of biomimicry through one of her undergraduate biology courses. “The concept of using nature as a model for sustainability and innovation was beyond fascinating to me. I began wondering how I could merge biomimicry and mycology.”

Alannah has been cultivating fungi for the past 10 years. She currently owns and operates a gourmet and medicinal mushroom farm in Southeast Alaska where she resides. She started the farm in effort to bring food security to
her community, seeing that her region has low agriculture, and a short growing season. Her town is landlocked between the Juneau Icefield and the Pacific Ocean, meaning most food & goods can only be shipped in by boat or plane. Alannah has been incredibly inspired by biological innovations and
has worked with a number of teams throughout her Biomimicry MSc Program at ASU, to help solve current human sustainability challenges. Alannah looks forward to the future of biomimicry and is excited to expand her own personal perspective of how she views nature.