The offices and nominees listed below have agreed to be elected to the offices under which they are listed. Please select one or indicate your agreement if only one person has agreed to be nominated.

Nominees:

François Lutzoni

François is a Professor of Biology and Curator of the Lichen Collection at Duke University. He was Deputy Treasurer (1997-2000) and Treasurer (2000-2004) of the IAL, and a member of the Scientific Committee for IAL7. Among many services provided to the scientific community, including as associate editor for five scientific journals, he has been serving as a member of the International Scientific Advisory Committee for IMC8, IMC10, and IMC12 congresses. He served the Mycological Society of America (MSA) as member and chair of the Student Awards Committee (2001-2005), and Distinctions Committee (2011-2016), as well as a Council member (Systematics and Evolution; 2003- 2005), and member of the Membership Committee (2016-2020). He accepted this nomination for the IAL Council because at this stage of his career he has the opportunity to contribute substantially to the IAL. One of the many goals for the years to come is to increase the visibility of the IAL and to promote lichenology as an exciting field of inquiry that is attractive to a diverse array of talented researchers. The IAL should facilitate and empower young lichenologists to be competitive for job positions that are increasingly more interdisciplinary and less linked to a specific group of organisms. Connectivity with other scientific societies is one of the keys to reach this goal. A proactive and unbiased recruitment of new members and equal opportunities for members to shape the IAL are integral to instill a strong sense of belonging and renewed dynamism.

Nominees:

Marcela Eugenia da Silva Cáceres

Marcela is the head of the Laboratorio de Liquenologia (LALIQ) at the Universidade Federal de Sergipe, Brazil, where she has been working as a Full Professor and advisor of various PhD and master’s students, since 2008. She is also the founder and curator of the ISE Herbarium which harbors one of the largest collections of crustose tropical lichens from Brazil. After her experience as the President of IAL9 in Brazil and as a Member-At-Large in the current Council, Marcela feels she could contribute considerably for the next Council by serving as Vice-President.

Nominees:

Frank Bungartz

Frank Bungartz works as collection manager of lichens and digital data at Arizona State University. He is one of the editors of the Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert Region and manages the Consortium of North American Lichen Herbaria with its Latin American counterpart. For almost 10 years, Frank has been employed as curator of Natural History Collections at the Charles Darwin Foundation in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, where he continues to work on a species inventory of these islands. As a candidate for IAL secretary, Frank would much enjoy helping to establish the IAL as a truly international society.

Lucia Muggia

I, Lucia Muggia, also known as Lucy for many of you friends and colleagues, have gladly accepted the nomination of Secretary of our IAL. I have recently become Associate Professor at the University of Trieste and I think that in this present position I own a certain stability that allows me to fulfill university and extra-university duties. I look forward to assist and support the future president and the other members of the Council in coordinating our society.

Nominees:

Andreas Beck

Andreas is senior curator of Lichens and Bryophytes at the Botanische Staatssammlung München (M). He continues to serve as editor of the IAL webpage, a role he has filled since 2006. As Treasurer, he wants to continue to ensure the stable financial affairs of the association.

Nominees:

Imke Schmitt

Imke is head of a research group at Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre and Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. She was IAL Assistant Treasurer 2008-2012 and Treasurer 2016-2021. She is willing to serve again as Assistant Treasurer to provide stability, and avoid having to transfer the IAL account to a new country.

Nominees:

Beata Guzow-Krzeminska

Beata Guzow-Krzeminska works at the University of Gda?sk (Poland) in the Laboratory of Experimental Lichenology and Mycology. She has been the editor of International Lichenological Newsletter for the last 5 years. At that time, ten issues were published, including two special anniversary Newsletters. She offers to continue work on the Newsletter.

Nominees:

Jessica Allen

Jessica is an assistant professor in the biology department at Eastern Washington University, Cheney, WA, USA. Jessica is currently the co-chair for the IUCN SSC Lichen Specialist Group, a role she has filled since 2018. She has also served, and continues to serve, as a member-at-large for the American Bryological and Lichenological Society. Jessica wants to facilitate communication between the Lichen Specialist Group and IAL by serving as a member-at-large.


Cécile Gueidan

Cécile Gueidan works at CSIRO in Canberra, where she is a research scientist at the Australian National Herbarium. With a background in lichen systematics, Cécile has 20 years of research experience, and has worked across three continents (North America, Europe and Australia). As a researcher at the NHM in London, she was a member of the BLS council. She has been an editor for MycoKeys for 5 years and has recently joined the editorial team for The Lichenologist. As a member-at-large, Cécile will commit to provide support to the IAL council and promote the society in her region and worldwide.


Jesus Hernandez


Dmitry Himelbrant

Dmitry is a lichenology & mycology teacher in St. Petersburg State University since 1992, also he works as a researcher in Laboratory of Lichenology & Bryology in Komarov Botanical Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia. Dmitry‘s main scientific interests are lichen diversity, ecology and distribution, use of lichens as indicators of communities of high conservation value, and lichens in red data books. The main regions of his fieldwork are NW Russia and Kamchatka. Dmitry is an editor of Novosti Sistematiki Nizshikh Rastenii, as well as of The Lichen Flora of Russia. Dmitry wants to develop biodiversity studies and international collaboration, despite the global trends.


Paul Kirika

Paul Kirika works for the National Museums of Kenya where he heads the Mycology section at the East African herbarium. He is among the few lichenologists in the entire African continent. He has been a member of IAL since 2012 and was the African representative to the council for the period 2012-2016. He has been co-opted as a temporary associate editor for the special issue of African lichenology in The Lichenologist, and he is also a member of the scientific committee of IAL9. He wishes to expand lichen studies in a region that is largely not well studied.


Scott LaGreca

Scott is part of the Lutzoni Lichen Lab at Duke University, where he is the Lichen Herbarium Collections Manager. Scott was the lichen book review editor for The Bryologist for 10 years, and has been serving as editor of Evansia for about 8 years. He was the BLS Secretary for 2 years and is the current IAL Secretary. Scott wants to provide continuity between the current Council and the next Council by serving as Member-At-Large.


Yoshihito Ohmura

Yoshihito is the Head of Division of Fungi and Algae, Department of Botany, National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo, Japan, where he has managed the lichen collections in the Herbarium (TNS) for 14 years. Yoshihito contributed to lichenology with his research papers and international collaborations, especially about taxonomy of the genus Usnea, lichen mycota of eastern Asia, ecology, and symbiotic relationship in lichens. Yoshihito wants to serve as IAL's point of contact in Asia and the Far East, especially Japan, by serving as a Member-At-Large.


Mohammad Sohrabi

Mohammad established the Museum of Iranian Lichens as the first formal Lichen Museum worldwide, devoted exclusively to lichenology, in Tehran. He is also the manager of the Iranian Cryptogamic Herbarium (ICH). His regional lichenological responsibilities include coordinating and building the infrastructure for the monumental project "The Lichen Flora of Iran", including the establishment of ICH Herbarium, Lichen Chemistry and Molecular Phylogeny Labs. Additionally, he supervises a number of graduate students in Iran and neighboring countries. As a subject editor for lichens, he has been involved in The Phytotaxa Journal since nine years ago and also has been activated on the advisory board of Mycologia Iranica, a journal dedicated to Iranian Mycology and Lichenology since about five years ago. He wishes to serve as Member-At-Large of the next Council to ensure continuity


Reinaldo Vargas

Reinaldo is one of the few active lichenologist in Chile, and the curator of the Federico Johow Herbarium. Reinaldo is currently serving as the Editor in Chief of GLALIA, the online journal of the Grupo Latinoamericano de Liquenólogos. Reinaldo wants to serve as a Member-At-Large to include broader views in inclusion, opportunities, and best practices for our growing community.


Gothamie Weerakoon

Gothamie is the Senior Curator of Lichens and Slime Moulds at the Natural History Museum -UK. Gothamie is conducting lichen research in tropical Asia and has described many species new to science. She has been serving as a trustee and council member of the British Lichen Society since 2019. Gothamie wishes to continue to provide links between the Natural History Museum, IAL and the British Lichen Society.

Nominees:

Starri Heiðmarsson

Starri is a lichenologist at the Icelandic Institute of Natural History. His research has mainly focused on Icelandic lichens and their symbionts. Starri has been the treasurer of the Nordic Lichen Society since 1997 and served as a vice auditor of IAL since 2016. He is at present on the editorial board of the Nordic Lichen Flora. He has been a member of the IAL since his first IAL meeting in Salzburg 1996.

Nominees:

Andrei Tsurykau

Andrei is Associate Professor (Docent Lecturer) and Lichen Herbarium Collection Manager at Francisk Skorina Gomel State University (Gomel, Belarus). Andrei is the current Managing curator for the continuously updated classification of Fungi outlineoffungi.org. Being a new member of the IAL committee, Andrei wants to bring a new perspective to the activities of the association serving as Vice Auditor office.

Nominees:

Manuela Dal Forno

Manuela is a lichenologist interested on multiple aspects of diversity and evolution in lichens, as well as in science communication. She works at the Botanical Research Institute of Texas and has been serving as a member of both the Organizing and Scientific Committees of the IAL9 in Brazil (now online) these past 5 years. Manu would like to keep serving the IAL community as a member of the Nominating Committee.


Troy McMullin

Troy is a Research Scientist at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa, Ontario, where he leads the lichenology program and is Head of the Botany Division. He has been an active member of several lichen related committees (e.g. International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Lichen Specialist Group and the  Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada’s Mosses and Lichens Specialist Subcommittee) and regularly collaborates with international colleagues. Troy is familiar with the lichenological community, which will be an asset to the IAL Nominating Committee.


Bibiana Moncada

Bibiana Moncada is a lichenologist from Colombia with 20 years of experience in the study of tropical and extratropical lichens. She is curator of the lichen section of the UDBC herbarium in Bogotá and founder and president of the Colombian Group of Lichenologists (GCOL). Since 2014 she is Research Assistant at the Field Museum in Chicago and since 2016 Visiting Scientist at the Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum of the Freie Universität Berlin, where she conducts research on lichens from Colombia, Mexico, Cuba, Hawaii, and New Zealand. Bibiana would like to collaborate in the IAL council as Member-at-Large, representing the growing community of Latin American and female lichenologists. Besides lichenology, her expertise is in topics such as research politics and the implementation of the Nagoya protocol in biodiversity-rich countries.


Ave Suija

Ave's entire career has been associated with the University of Tartu, in Estonia. At the moment, she works there as associate professor in lichenology and as manager of fungal collections. She has served as editor of IAL Newsletter from 2012-2016 and has been involved in activities of the Nordic Lichen Society (NLF). Her current research interests include taxonomy and phylogeny of various groups of lichenicolous fungi, but mainly those belonging to Leotiomycetes. Ave would like to contribute once again to IAL activities by being a member of Nomination committee.

Thank you to all current serving officers, nominees for office, and IAL members for supporting the International Association for Lichenology.