Talking About Lichens With Tomas Curtis, Student, Kent State University
Channel: Western Cuyahoga Audubon
Date: 2020-07-12

Listen to this July 2020 pre-event conversation with Tomas Curtis to learn just a little more about the foundational research he does to preserve and protect lichens, a vast plant system we've barely begun to identify and understand. Register for the live program on Tuesday, December 1, 2020!

Western Cuyahoga Audubon Society Member Meeting and Speaker Series 2020-2021

Program:  “Lichens: An Overlooked Organism”
Presenter: Tomas Curtis, undergraduate at Kent State University, studying Botany
Date & Time: Tuesday, December 1, 2020. 
Programs are free and open to the public. Donations are appreciated.

Description: What is a lichen? Is it a plant? A fungi? An algae? During this program we will find out and become lichenologists ourselves. Tomas Curtis, student at Kent State University, will discuss the history of studying lichens including the work and accomplishments happening in Northeast Ohio. In addition, we’ll discover why lichens are important to  ecosystems. Lastly, Tomas will cover information on some of the most significant finds of his current study.

Tomas Curtis is an undergraduate student at Kent State University majoring in Botany. Currently, he is working as a seasonal botanist for the Portage Park District (PPD) where he is preforming some of the first comprehensive surveys of vascular plants for PPD properties. As an amateur, has worked throughout his high school and college years conducting extensive surveys of lichenized, lichenicolous, and allied fungi, as well as vascular plants, throughout the northeastern United States with an emphasis on Ohio. His surveys have yielded nearly 6,000 herbarium specimens, numerous of which represent new and exciting finds including several species new to science. His studies are ongoing and currently focused in the Northeastern portion of the state.

Details and to Register: https://www.wcaudubon.org/news-blog/member-meeting-and-lichens-an-overlooked-organism-speaker-series-tue-dec-1-2020

Western Cuyahoga Audubon is a chapter of the National Audubon Society based in Cuyahoga County in Northern Ohio, USA. WCAS seeks to connect and educate the public and conserve natural habitats for the sustainability of all bird species.