This beginner lichens course will introduce you to these fascinating and compelling life-forms, and teach you some of the skills you need to recognise and identify them.
Lichens could be the poster child for neglected biodiversity. Even though they’re all around us, few people really notice them. But we should! Lichens aren’t just strange and beautiful, they also play an outsized ecological role. What’s more, they’re unique on Earth. They’re neither fungus, nor plant, nor even organisms in the usual sense, and entering the lichen world is like exploring a fascinating new planet.
Tutor: Dr Anthony Speca
Dr Anthony Speca is a field lichenologist and educator based in northeast Suffolk. Through Aspen Ecology, he offers lichen surveying, consultancy, training and education. He’s also an active lichen recorder and lichen tutor with the British Lichen Society.