#WeAreAllLichens
Manuela Dal Forno
Outreach and Professional Service
The Expert is In: Liking Lichens
Q?rius Exhibit at NMNH
BioBlitz - Lichen Inventory at Theodore Roosevelt Island
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Community Involvement and Outreach Programs
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2021 - The Secret Life of Lichens | Exploring By The Seat of Your Pants GLOBAL BIODIVERSITY FESTIVAL
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2021 - Liberty’s Promise Career Panel. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC
2021 - "Lichen 101". Galveston Bay Area Chapter Texas Master Naturalist
2021 - "Lichens". Indian Trail Chapter Texas Master Naturalist
2021 - Lichen Walk and Collecting Training. Wakefield Heights Park
2020 - Intro Lichenology. Texas Master Naturalist Blackland Prairie Chapter
2020 - Lichen Lab in Environmental Microbiology Course (invited speaker). George Mason University
2020 - Lichens 101: Everything you need to make lichens part of your naturalist life. Texas Master Naturalist Annual Meeting
2020 - Lichens 101. North Texas Master Naturalist
2020 - Brookline Public Schools – Heath School
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2020 - The Lichen Lifestyle: It's More Complex than You Think. Audubon Naturalist Society
2020 - iNaturalist City Challenge ID Party ONLINE
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2020 - What's a Lichen? With Lichenologist Manuela Dal Forno Webinar. Smithsonian Science How. One talk (approx. 1h) available at:
https://naturalhistory.si.edu/education/teaching-resources/life-science/webinar-whats-lichen
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2020 - You + Me = Symbioses - Smithsonian Associates, Washington, DC
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2019 - What's a Lichen? How a Smithsonian Scientist Studies a Unique Symbiosis Live Broadcast. Smithsonian Science How. Shows available at (approx. 48 min each):
https://www.ustream.tv/recorded/124607003
https://www.ustream.tv/recorded/124609758
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2018/2019 - Volunteer in the project “Collection and identification of lichens on the Patuxent Research Refuge and Patuxent Wildlife Research Center”
2019 - Patuxent Research Refuge (PRR) and Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
2019 - “Herbology” Class: Magic Lichens. Hogwarts Summer Camp, Washington, DC
2019 - Exploring the Amazing World of Lichens Live Broadcast (42 min). Smithsonian Science How. Available at:
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/120830052
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/120831187
2019 - Teen Science Café – A New Approach to STEM, Washington, DC
2019 - The Mycological Association of Washington, DC
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2018 - Patuxent Research Refuge (PRR) and Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
2018 - iNaturalist City Challenge Washington, DC – Species Identification Evening. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC
2018 - iNaturalist City Challenge Washington, DC. Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens, Washington, DC
2018 - Lichens 101 (3rd edition). Long Branch Nature Center, Arlington, VA
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2018 - Lichens 101 (2nd edition). Educational talk and hike for the National Association for Interpretation.
Great Falls, VA
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2017/2018 - iNaturalist City Challenge Washington, DC + Species ID Evening at the Museum
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2017 - The Expert is In Series: Liking Lichens. Program open to the public showing lichens, lichen uses, lichens under microscopes, etc. Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC
2017 - Why Lichens Are The Coolest. Educational talk and hike for the Northern Neck Chapter, Virginia Native Plant Society. Wicomico Church, VA
2017 - Lichen Basics. Educational talk and hike for the employers and friends of the Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary. Lothian, MD
2017 - Lichens 101. Educational talk and hike for the National Association for Interpretation.
Great Falls, VA
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2016 - BioBlitz: Lichen Inventory from the Theodore Roosevelt Island. Washington, DC
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2013 - Observatory Talk Series: The World of Lichens. GMU, Fairfax, VA
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2013 - Observatory Talk Series: Happy FUNGIving – Introduction to Symbiosis. GMU, Fairfax, VA
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2012 - Rapid Guide to Lichens of Wet Montane Forest of Costa Rica. Las Cruces Field Station, Costa Rica
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2012 - Two lichen tours (day and night), in English and Spanish. Las Cruces Field Station, Costa Rica
2010 - Fungi and Lichen Educational Display. Audubon Center of the North Woods, Sandstone, MN
Selected Media Coverage
2016 - The Plant Press by Gary Krupnick
2016 - Last Word on Nothing Blog by Helen Fields
2014 - George Mason University News Desk by Michele McDonald
2014 - National Geographic by Ed Yong
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Mentorship
2019 - Smithsonian Graduate Student Fellowship. PhD Student Julia Adams. UC Riverside (Advisor: Jason Stajich).
2019 - Smithsonian YES! Program (two students). Project: Investigating Lichen Diversity in the Tropics. National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC.
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2018 - Smithsonian YES! Program (two students). Project: Investigating Lichen Diversity in the Tropics. National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC.
2018 - Smithsonian Internship Program. Project: A glimpse of the past: mining data from lichens in the National Herbarium. National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC.
2014 - Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology and George Mason University Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program. Project: Species circumscription of Parmotrema tinctorum in Brazil. George Mason University, Manassas, VA.
2012/2013 - Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology and George Mason University Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program. Project: Phylogeny of Cladonia Inferred from DNA Sequences. George Mason University, Manassas, VA.
2007* (co-mentor) - Undergraduate Internship at the Lichenology Laboratory (two students). 2007. Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, Brazil.
Conferences and Symposia Organized
2019–2021 - Symposium Organizer (Gueidan C & Dal Forno M)
New approaches to harness genetic data from herbarium specimens
9th International Association for Lichenology Symposium (2020)
2016–2021 - Secretary - 9th International Association for Lichenology Symposium
2018 - Symposium Organizer (Dal Forno M & Lücking R)
Evolution and diversity of lichenization in the Basidiomycota
11th International Mycological Congress. San Juan, Puerto Rico
2008 - Secretary - IV Encontro do Grupo Brasileiro de Liquenólogos
Workshops Given
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2017 - Utilizando recursos moleculares na pesquisa aplicada (Utilizing molecular resources in applied research) – 8 hours. In collaboration with botanist Morgan Robert Gostel, Ph.D.
Universidade de Santa Cruz do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
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2015 - Neotropical Lichens – 20 hours. In collaboration with local lichenologist Luis Fernando Coca, B.Sc.
Universidad de Caldas, Manizales, Colombia
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Professional Associations
American Bryological and Lichenological Society (ABLS)
Grupo Brasileiro de Liquenólogos (GBL)
Grupo Colombiano de Liquenólogos (GCOL)
Grupo Latino Americano de Liquenólogos (GLAL)
International Association for Lichenology (IAL)
Mycological Society of America (MSA)
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Check out the amazing LOGO I helped to design with
NMNH Botany illustrator Alice Tangerini!
It is for the next International Association for Lichenology (IAL)
meeting in Brazil in August 2021!
Website: https://www.doity.com.br/ial9
One of my life goals is to make sure lichen knowledge is accessible to everybody. Therefore, I am very interested in outreach programs. If you are looking for somebody to talk about lichens in your school, society, environmental center, university, etc., please contact me.
