My Upcoming Volunteer Work with Monoceros

By Annika - Inaugural Cohort for Monoceros Youth Research Program

March 2026

I first heard about Monoceros through a fish hatchery. My father met the founder, Alisa, at the fish hatchery where I had started volunteering. At the time I did not think much of this encounter, but when he told me about what she was working on, I got curious. A company using mushrooms to remediate contaminated soil? That isn’t something you hear about every day.

For my Work Experience 12 class at school, we were required to interview at least two people about their careers. I decided to reach out to Alisa. I was interested in what she was doing, and I wanted to learn more about what goes into starting a business and working with cutting edge innovation. When we started talking, I realized quickly that this isn’t just a normal business, it is something that challenges the standards of environmental clean up and remediation.

Most companies call “remediation” just digging up contaminated soil and moving it elsewhere, but this does not solve the problem. Monoceros is trying to change the way contamination is dealt with by using endemic mycelium. The idea that something natural could be used in such an innovative way really stuck with me. It made me think about how many other solutions might exist that people aren’t paying attention to.

At the end of the interview, I asked Alisa if she could take me in for my work placement with Monoceros – she said yes! I was surprised and really excited about this opportunity for two main reasons. First, this placement would be very hands-on, and it promised the opportunity for me to acquire lots of knowledge. Second, I would be helping out on a mushroom farm, learning lab work, and seeing what goes into cutting edge science. In school, science is just pen, paper, and textbooks. However this experience would be completely different from regular school life. I was looking forward to working on a project that had a real impact on the world and something that I was allowed to help develop and understand. 

Since Monoceros is an up-and-coming organization, I was really interested in learning how they build a system from scratch. Their focus isn’t only growing mushrooms; they are creating a process that can be used to remediate in a sustainable way. The idea of building something that could have a long-term impact is really inspiring and motivating. It made the opportunity feel bigger than just a school course. 

Personally, this opportunity feels important because I am still figuring out what I want to do with my future. At 16, I feel a lot of pressure to have my life planned out, but experiences like these help make things clearer. I like that this placement combines science, environmental work, system design/engineering, and business, because it gives me the chance to explore multiple careers at once. 

Overall, what stands out the most to me about volunteering with Monoceros is that it will be more than just something I had to do for class; it is something I am ecstatic to be a part of. This work feels meaningful not only to myself but also to the world.