Irwin M. Brodo

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American-born Canadian lichenologist and botanist

title: "Irwin M. Brodo" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["canadian-lichenologists", "1935-births", "20th-century-canadian-biologists", "20th-century-canadian-botanists", "columbia-university-alumni", "cornell-university-alumni", "michigan-state-university-alumni", "living-people", "acharius-medal-recipients", "21st-century-canadian-biologists", "21st-century-canadian-botanists", "canadian-taxonomists"] description: "American-born Canadian lichenologist and botanist" topic_path: "geography/canada" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irwin_M._Brodo" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American-born Canadian lichenologist and botanist ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox scientist"]

FieldValue
nameIrwin M. Brodo
imageIrwin Brodo.png
image_captionBrodo in Maine on 2 September 2001, receiving the first copy of Lichens of North America
birth_date
fieldsLichenology
workplacesCanadian Museum of Nature
alma_materCity College; Cornell University; Michigan State University
author_abbrev_botBrodo{{cite web
publisherInternational Plant Names Index
::

| name = Irwin M. Brodo | image = Irwin Brodo.png | image_caption = Brodo in Maine on 2 September 2001, receiving the first copy of Lichens of North America | caption = | alt = | birth_date = | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | nationality = | resting_place = | fields = Lichenology | workplaces = Canadian Museum of Nature | alma_mater = City College; Cornell University; Michigan State University | author_abbrev_bot = Brodo{{cite web |url=https://www.ipni.org/a/16567-1 |title=Brodo, Irwin Murray (1935–) |publisher=International Plant Names Index |access-date=29 September 2024}}

Irwin Murray Brodo (born November 7, 1935 in New York City) is an emeritus scientist at the Canadian Museum of Nature, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He is an authority on the identification and biology of lichens.

Early life and education

Brodo grew up in the Bronx and attended City College in Manhattan as an undergraduate. He went on to do his graduate studies at Columbia University, and received a master's degree from Cornell University. He earned a Ph.D. in lichenology under the supervision of Henry Imshaug at Michigan State University.

Career and research

In 1965, Brodo was hired by the National Museum of Canada (now the Canadian Museum of Nature), where he continues to work as a research scientist emeritus. Over his career, he has built the lichen collection (CANL) into one of the best in North America. His research includes in-depth studies on challenging genera such as Bryoria, Lecanora, and Ochrolechia. His 1968 work on the lichens of Long Island and the effects of air pollutants was pioneering in the field.

In 1970, Brodo started to edit the exsiccata series Lichenes Canadenses exsiccati.

Selected publications

Brodo's list of publications includes approximately 100 scientific articles, 8 popular articles, 22 reviews and 6 editorials and obituaries. One of his great achievements was the publication in 2001 of the 795 page book, Lichens of North America with high-quality photographs of lichens taken by Sylvia Sharnoff and Stephen Sharnoff. It won the 2002 National Outdoor Book Award (Nature Guidebook). In 2016, he produced Keys to Lichens of North America: Revised and Expanded, a spiral-bound workbook of over 400 pages including keys to 2045 species.

Teaching and mentorship

Brodo has taught at Université Laval and the University of Alaska, and he also supervised master's students at the University of Ottawa and Carleton University. He has also given numerous introductory workshops, including a popular field-course on crustose lichens at the Eagle Hill Institute in coastal Maine.

Professional Leadership

Brodo has held several leadership positions in professional organizations. He served as President of the International Association for Lichenology for a four-year term and President of the American Bryological and Lichenological Society for a two-year term.

He has also been involved in public service, including work with the Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club and the Ottawa-Hull chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.

Honors and awards

Brodo has received numerous honors throughout his career. In 1994, he was honored with an Acharius Medal presented to him by the International Association for Lichenology. In 1993, Brodo was awarded the Mary E. Elliot Service Award for his meritorious service to the Canadian Botanical Association — and in 2003, for lifetime achievement, the association's George Lawson Medal. In 2013, Brodo was presented with an honorary doctorate from Carleton University, "in recognition of his distinguished career in lichenology and scientific leadership in the international biosystematics community".

Eponyms

A lichen genus and several lichen taxa have been named to honor Brodo. These eponyms include:

References

References

  1. "Lichenes Canadenses exsiccati: IndExs ExsiccataID=760360419". Botanische Staatssammlung München.
  2. "Past Recipients of the Lawson Medal".
  3. (1998). "Materials to North American lichen flora". Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae.
  4. (11 June 2013). "Carleton Presents Renowned Lichenologist With Honorary Doctorate". [[Carleton University]].
  5. (1996). "A new species of ''Megalaria'' from the North American west coast, and notes on the generic circumscription". The Bryologist.
  6. (2007). "The lichen genus ''Bactrospora''". The Lichenologist.
  7. Esslinger, T.L.. (2016). "Lichens of Mexico. The Parmeliaceae – Keys, distribution and specimen descriptions". J. Cramer.
  8. Goward, Trevor. (1986). "''Brodoa'', a new lichen genus in the Parmeliaceae". Bryologist.
  9. (19 August 1994). "Acharius Medallists: Irwin M. Brodo". [[International Association for Lichenology]].
  10. (1994). "Award for Irwin Brodo". International Lichenological Newsletter.
  11. (2016). "Two new species of Acarosporaceae from North America with carbonized epihymenial accretions". The Lichenologist.
  12. Kukwa, Martin. (2011). "The lichen genus ''Ochrolechia'' in Europe". Fundacja Rozwoju Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego.
  13. (2014). "''Lepraria brodoi'' (Stereocaulaceae, Lichenized Ascomycetes), a new species from the temperate rainforests of western Canada and southeastern Alaska, U.S.A.". Opuscula Philolichenum.
  14. (2016). "Two new host-specific hepaticolous species of ''Catinaria'' (Ramalinaceae)". The Lichenologist.
  15. (1995). "New species and new records of ''Lecanora'' s.str. from Western North America". The Bryologist.
  16. (2016). "New species in ''Bryoria'' (Parmeliaceae, Lecanoromycetes) from north-west North America". The Lichenologist.
  17. (2004). "Lichen flora of the greater Sonoran Desert region". Lichens Unlimited.
  18. "Winners of the 2002 National Outdoor Book Awards". [[National Outdoor Book Awards]].
  19. (2014). "A review of ''Rinodina''(Physciaceae) in Great Smoky Mountains National Park highlights the growing significance of this “island of biodiversity” in eastern North America". The Bryologist.
  20. (2015). "Awards and Personalia". IMA Fungus.

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canadian-lichenologists1935-births20th-century-canadian-biologists20th-century-canadian-botanistscolumbia-university-alumnicornell-university-alumnimichigan-state-university-alumniliving-peopleacharius-medal-recipients21st-century-canadian-biologists21st-century-canadian-botanistscanadian-taxonomists