The Wonderful World of Lichens

Tuesday, November 17, 6:30pm 

Free, registration appreciated

Welcome to the wonderful world of lichens! Always seen but rarely discussed, lichens are a fascinating intersection between fungi, algae, and more. Important in a number of different ways, from being bioindicators of air pollution to helping generate soil, lichens are found across the globe and on every continent (yes, even Antarctica). 

Join Daniel Shapiro who is currently engaged in a study of the macrolichens of the UMass campus! The UMass campus provides a fairly interesting setting for such a study as it has a relatively developed “core” with scattered regions of forest within campus bounds. This provides the opportunity to not only catalogue what species of macrolichens are present but to contrast the more urbanised centre of campus with these more wooded areas. This study also includes adding to the specimens at the UMass Herbarium to build up the lichen collection at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

It is the goal of this lecture and presentation to share with others the incredibly fascinating world of lichens, how to ID a few common macrolichens, what my research has looked like so far, and to raise awareness about these underexamined symbioses which fill the world around us.