{{Short description|British biologist and author (born 1987)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox person | name = Merlin Sheldrake | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1987}} | birth_place = London, England | education = University of Cambridge (PhD) | occupation = Mycologist, writer | organization = Society for the Protection of Underground Networks | known_for = Advocacy for fungi; book ''Entangled Life'' | notable_works = ''Entangled Life'' | awards = Royal Society Science Book Prize (2021) | spouse = Erin Robinsong | parents = Rupert Sheldrake and Jill Purce | relatives = Cosmo Sheldrake (brother) | website = {{URL|merlinsheldrake.com}} }}
'''Merlin Sheldrake''' (born 1987) is a British mycologist and writer known for his popular science writings on fungi.
==Early life and education== Merlin Sheldrake was born in 1987 in London to Rupert Sheldrake, an English author and parapsychology researcher, and Jill Purce, a therapist.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/entangled-life-review-digging-into-enigmatic-organisms-11590184908 |title=‘Entangled Life’ Review: Digging Into Enigmatic Organisms |first1=Eugenia |last1=Bone |date=22 May 2020 |publisher=The Wall Street Journal}}</ref><ref name=Guardian23082020>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/aug/23/the-future-is-fungal-why-the-megascience-of-mycology-is-on-the-rise |title=The future is fungal: why the 'megascience' of mycology is on the rise |first1=Rachel |last1=Cooke |date=23 August 2020 |publisher =The Guardian}}</ref> He grew up near Hampstead Heath in London.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.opb.org/article/2024/06/14/oregon-food-superabundant-sheldrake-forest-fungi-coast/ |title=Merlin Sheldrake wants you to know the mycological ocean of land beneath your feet |first1=Heather Arndt |last1=Anderson |date=14 June 2024 |publisher=Oregon Public Broadcasting}}</ref> His brother, Cosmo Sheldrake, is a musician. As a teenager, Sheldrake was influenced by Paul Stamets, a self-taught mycologist and "fungal evangelist," and Karl von Frisch's book ''Animal Architecture''.<ref name=NYTM862023>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/08/magazine/merlin-sheldrake-fungi.html |title=The Man Who Turned the World on to the Genius of Fungi |date=8 June 2023 |first1=Jennifer |last1=Kahn|publisher=The New York Times Magazine |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230608090710/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/08/magazine/merlin-sheldrake-fungi.html |archive-date=8 June 2023}}</ref>
Sheldrake studied at the University of Cambridge, where he was a scholar of Clare College. After being awarded his undergraduate degree in biological science, he subsequently earned a master's degree in the history and philosophy of science, and later a PhD in tropical ecology.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/the-secrets-of-the-wood-wide-web |title=The Secrets of the Wood Wide Web |first1=Robert |last1=Macfarlane |date=7 August 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181107014246/https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/the-secrets-of-the-wood-wide-web |archive-date=7 November 2018 |publisher=The New Yorker}}</ref> He studied underground fungal networks in Panama's tropical forests as a predoctoral research fellow at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.<ref name=Guardian23082020/><ref>{{cite thesis|url=https://idiscover.lib.cam.ac.uk/primo-explore/fulldisplay?docid=44CAM_ALMA21432636990003606&context=L&vid=44CAM_PROD&lang=en_US&search_scope=SCOP_UL&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&tab=cam_lib_coll&query=any,contains,merlin%20sheldrake |title= Responses of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and mycoheterotrophic plants to long-term fertilisation in a tropical forest |first1=Merlin William Alfred |last1=Sheldrake |publisher=University of Cambridge. Department of Plant Sciences |degree=Ph.D. |date=1 March 2016}}</ref>
==Career== In 2020, Sheldrake published his first book, ''Entangled Life'', which was a bestseller in both ''The Sunday Times'' and ''The New York Times'' booklists and received the 2021 Royal Society Science Book Prize.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ft.com/content/1175629e-bd9c-4467-be51-59ad4444b013 |title=Merlin Sheldrake: ‘I care about the ways humans conduct themselves in their relationships with the living world’ |publisher=Financial Times |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://royalsociety.org/grants-schemes-awards/book-prizes/science-book-prize/2021/ |title=2021 Royal Society Science Book Prize, sponsored by Insight Investment |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231208085117/https://royalsociety.org/grants-schemes-awards/book-prizes/science-book-prize/2021/ |archive-date=8 December 2023 |date=2021}}</ref> ''Entangled Life'' has positioned Merlin Sheldrake as a leading advocate for fungi.<ref name=NYTM862023/> He has presented an IMAX film called ''Fungi: Web of Life'' which was narrated by Björk and filmed in Tasmania's Tarkine rainforest.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.countryfile.com/people/who-is-merlin-sheldrake |title=Who is Merlin Sheldrake? |last1=Countryfile |publisher=BBC One |date=29 November 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/film-tv/article/61918/1/fungi-web-of-life-film-documentary-review-bjork-merlin-sheldrake-interview-2024 |title=This Björk-narrated fungi documentary is enough to make you trip |first1=Nick |last1=Chen |date=12 February 2024 |publisher=Dazed |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240214114056/https://www.dazeddigital.com/film-tv/article/61918/1/fungi-web-of-life-film-documentary-review-bjork-merlin-sheldrake-interview-2024 |archive-date=14 February 2024}}</ref>
Inspired by Sheldrake's book, couture designer Iris van Herpen created a collection based on fungi, featuring designs mimicking chanterelle mushrooms and hyphae.<ref name=NYTM862023/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/spring-2021-couture/iris-van-herpen |title=Iris van Herpen |first1=Laird |last1=Borrelli-Persson |date=25 January 2021 |publisher=Vogue |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201165549/https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/spring-2021-couture/iris-van-herpen |archive-date=1 February 2021}}</ref>
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Sheldrake and his brother co-founded a business called Sheldrake & Sheldrake that sells fermented hot sauce.<ref name=NYTM862023/>
In 2021, Sheldrake consulted on Stella McCartney's fungal-themed Paris runway show, which featured a soundtrack by his brother, Cosmo Sheldrake that used a device to convert mycelium's electrical signals into musical notes.<ref name=NYTM862023/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/177139/merlin-sheldrake-will-change-way-see-mushrooms |title=Merlin Sheldrake Will Change the Way You See Mushrooms |date=8 December 2023 |first1=Adam |last1=Federman |publisher=The New Republic}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/non-fiction/merlin-sheldrake-magical-world-of-mushrooms/ |title=Merlin Sheldrake’s guide to the fantastic world of fungi |publisher=The Daily Telegraph |first1=Guy |last1=Kelly |date=29 October 2023}}</ref>
Sheldrake is on the advisory board of the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks, which aims to map and protect global mycorrhizal diversity.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/07/27/climate/climate-change-fungi.html |title=Unearthing the Secret Superpowers of Fungus |publisher=The New York Times |first1=Somini |last1=Sengupta |date=27 July 2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220801071650/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/07/27/climate/climate-change-fungi.html |archive-date=1 August 2022}}</ref> He also works with mycologist Giuliana Furci and NYU law professor César Rodríguez Garavito to create legal protections for fungi, contributing to a larger movement that aims to provide legal representation for non-human living entities.<ref name=NYTM862023/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.iucn.org/news/species-survival-commission/202108/rewild-and-iucn-ssc-become-first-global-organizations-call-recognition-fungi-one-three-kingdoms-life-critical-protecting-and-restoring-earth |title=Re:wild and IUCN SSC become first global organizations to call for the recognition of fungi as one of three kingdoms of life critical to protecting and restoring Earth |publisher=International Union for Conservation of Nature |date=3 August 2021 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231213151735/https://www.iucn.org/news/species-survival-commission/202108/rewild-and-iucn-ssc-become-first-global-organizations-call-recognition-fungi-one-three-kingdoms-life-critical-protecting-and-restoring-earth |archive-date=13 December 2023}}</ref>
Since 2023, he has been a research associate at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Netherlands.<ref name="NYTM862023" /> In November 2023, ''Tatler'' noted Sheldrake as a member of the new vanguard of Bopeas, or "Bohemian Peasants", a socio-cultural group evolving from the Bobos who combine creative expression with a neo-medieval rooted "peasant" worldview.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Delaney |first=Evie |date=2023-11-17 |title=On England’s pleasant pastures seen: Rural rules the roost in the new class of bohemian peasants or ‘Bopeas’ |url=https://www.tatler.com/article/bopea-cultural-movement-bohemian-peasants-king-charles-rewilding-fermenters |access-date=2025-01-21 |website=Tatler |language=en-GB}}</ref> It was revealed in 2025, that Sheldrake had been in direct email and phone contact with convicted child rapist and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein between 2018 and 2019, having been introduced to Epstein by his father, Rupert Sheldrake.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Age Verification {{!}} United States Department of Justice |url=https://www.justice.gov/age-verify |access-date=2026-03-08 |website=www.justice.gov |language=en}}</ref> After this went knowledge went public, Sheldrake claimed to have cut ties with Epstein in 2019, after learning about his criminal activity. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Reporter |first=Fiona Hamilton, Chief |date=2026-02-10 |title=Epstein offered $100,000 to bestselling British mushroom expert |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/merlin-sheldrake-author-epstein-files-56jfkr6lv |access-date=2026-03-08 |website=www.thetimes.com |language=en}}</ref>
==Personal life== Sheldrake is married to the poet Erin Robinsong.<ref name=NYTM862023/>
==Bibliography== * Sheldrake, Merlin (2020). ''Entangled Life'' * Sheldrake, Merlin (2023). ''Entangled Life: The Illustrated Edition''
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{official website|merlinsheldrake.com}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheldrake, Merlin}} Category:Living people Category:1987 births Category:British mycologists Category:21st-century British writers