Frank Dobson was a UK lichenologist and author of ''Lichens: An Illustrated Guide to the British and Irish species'', the major guide to UK and Irish lichens from the late 20th century into the early 21st century.

Personal life and business career

Frank S. Dobson lived in

New Malden New Malden is an area in South West London, England. It is located mainly within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and the London Borough of Merton, and is from Charing Cross. Neighbouring localities include Kingston, Norbiton, Raynes ...

for all his life. He attended

Tiffin School Tiffin School is a boys' grammar school in Kingston upon Thames, England. It has specialist status in both the performing arts and languages. The school moved from voluntary aided status to become an Academy School on 1 July 2011. Founded in 1 ...

where a teacher inspired his interest in botany, although his academic progress was affected by undiagnosed

dyslexia Dyslexia, also known until the 1960s as word blindness, is a disorder characterized by reading below the expected level for one's age. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, r ...

. He worked in photography, initially in the family business, and became a skilled photographer. He later developed specialist printing and publishing enterprises, founding Richmond Publishing Co. Ltd. in 1970. He was a member of the photographic consultative committees of Twickenham College and the

London College of Printing The London College of Communication is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It specialises in media-related subjects including advertising, animation, film, graphic design, photography and sound arts. It has approximately ...

and other organisations involved in training within the printing industry. His personal life, with his wife Mary and six daughters had space for a number of additional interests including sailing. He was a member of the England Olympic team in 1960, competing in the 50 metres Free Pistol event. He died in December 2021.

Lichenology

Dobson became an expert and enthusiastic lichenologist, namely the study of organisms that are a symbiotic association of a microscopic

alga Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mi ...

(or a

cyanobacterium Cyanobacteria (), also known as Cyanophyta, are a phylum of gram-negative bacteria that obtain energy via photosynthesis. The name ''cyanobacteria'' refers to their color (), which similarly forms the basis of cyanobacteria's common name, blue ...

) with a

filament The word filament, which is descended from Latin ''filum'' meaning " thread", is used in English for a variety of thread-like structures, including: Astronomy * Galaxy filament, the largest known cosmic structures in the universe * Solar filament ...

ous

fungus A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from th ...

. Lichens are often the first life to colonise surfaces such as rocks, trees and man-made structures. He became expert in field identification and was the author of ''Lichens: An Illustrated Guide to the British and Irish species'', first published in 1979 which had reached its 7th revised edition by 2018. Dobson also recorded lichen distributions, particularly in his home area of

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

and was a charismatic teacher, influencing many future amateur and professional lichenologists. He ran courses about lichens for the

Field Studies Council Field Studies Council is an educational charity based in the UK, which offers opportunities for people to learn about and engage with the outdoors. History It was established as the Council for the Promotion of Field Studies in 1943 with the ...

and the British Lichen Society. Dobson was a member of the British Lichen Society. He was the Treasurer and a member of the BLS Council for many years. He was elected President for 1992 - 1994.

Honours and awards

Dobson was made an Honorary member of the British Lichen Society in 1997 and received the society's

Ursula Duncan Ursula Katherine Duncan (17 September 1910 – 27 January 1985) was a botanist with a special interest in mosses and lichens, and a lifelong love and knowledge of flowers. She was entirely self-educated in botany, and corresponded with numerous p ...

award in 2005. In August 2022 the British Lichen Society dedicated the month to commemorating Dobson, especially his contribution to the lichenology community. This included a meeting at

Hampton Park, Southampton Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia *Hampton, New South Wales *Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region *Hampton, Victoria Canada *Hampton, New Brunswick *Hamp ...

and Puttenham Common in his home area as well as over 20 other field meetings across England, Wales and Scotland.

Publications

Dobson was the author of several other books in addition to ''Lichens: An Illustrated Guide to the British and Irish species''. These included: * Frank S. Dobson ''A Field Key to Lichens on Trees'' (2013), 110pp ISBN 9780954232467 * Frank S. Dobson ''A Field Key to Coastal and Seashore Lichens'' (2011) 100 pp ISBN 978 0 9542324 5 * Frank S. Dobson ''A Field Key to Churchyard Lichens'' (2003)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dobson, Frank 20th-century births 2021 deaths Lichenologists British lichenologists British photographers People educated at Tiffin School