Helge Thorsten Lumbsch (born 1964) is a German-born lichenologist living in the United States. His research interests include the

phylogeny A phylogenetic tree (also phylogeny or evolutionary tree Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA.) is a branching diagram or a tree showing the evolutionary relationships among various biological spec ...

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

, and phylogeography of

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.fungi 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 ...

; lichen diversity; lichen chemistry and chemotaxonomy. He is the Associate Curator and Head of Cryptogams and Chair of the Department of Botany at the

Field Museum of Natural History The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educational ...

Biography

Lumbsch was born in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

in 1964. Interested in lichens already as a schoolboy, he studied

natural sciences Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

at the University of Marburg, under the tutelage of

Aino Henssen Aino Marjatta Henssen (12 April 1925, Elberfeld – 29 August 2011, Marburg), was a German lichenologist and systematist. Her father, Gottfried Henssen, was a folklorist and her mother was Finns, Finnish. Education and career Henssen began her stu ...

. He received his

diploma A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offici ...

in 1989, with a dissertation titled ''Ontogenetisch-systematische Studien der Trapeliaceae und verwandter Familien (Lichenisierte Ascomyceten)'' ("Ontogenic-systematic studies of the Trapeliaceae and related families (lichenized ascomycetes"). After Henssen's retirement in 1990, he transferred to the University in Essen, where he worked on the ''

Lecanora subfusca ''Lecanora'' is a genus of lichen commonly called rim lichens.Field Guide to California Lichens, Stephen Sharnoff, Yale University Press, 2014, Lichens in the genus ''Squamarina'' are also called rim lichens. Members of the genus have roughly ci ...

'' group in Australasia, a subject that was the topic of his PhD dissertation. In 1993 he completed his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

under the supervision of

Guido Benno Feige Guido is a given name Latinised from the Old High German name Wido. It originated in Medieval Italy. Guido later became a male first name in Austria, Germany, the Low Countries, Scandinavia, Spain, Portugal, Latin America and Switzerland. The mea ...

. Between 1994 and 1997, Lumbsch did postdoctoral research at the

Botanical Garden of the University of Duisburg-Essen The Botanischer Garten der Universität Duisburg-Essen ( is a botanical garden maintained on the Essen campus of the University of Duisburg-Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It formerly was located at Henri-Dunant-Strasse 65. Now it is locat ...

; in 1998–2003 he was a private lecturer there. Between 2003 and 2006 he was the Assistant curator at the Field Museum of Natural History. Since 2004, Lumbsch has been a member of committee on Evolutionary Biology at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, an interdepartmental and inter-institutional graduate student training program. In the years 2005–2009 he was the head of Cryptogams at the Field Museum, and between 2006 and 2014, the Associate Curator. Lumbsch was the president of the International Association for Lichenology in the years 2012–2016. Lumbsch has been the author or coauthor of more than 500 publications, many of which deal with

molecular phylogenetics Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

of various taxa of lichens. In his 2009 survey of influential lichenologists,

Ingvar Kärnefelt Jan Eric Ingvar Kärnefelt (born 1944) is a Swedish lichenologist. Early life and education Kärnefelt was born in Gothenburg, Sweden in 1944. His initial goal in his higher-level studies at University of Cologne in 1966–1967 was to become ...

calls him "a leading scientist on systematics and evolution of lichenized fungi."

Eponymy

Several lichen species have been named in honour of Lumbsch, including: ''

Paraparmelia lumbschii ''Xanthoparmelia'' (commonly known as green rock shields or rock-shield lichens) is a genus of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae.Field Guide to California Lichens, Stephen Sharnoff, Yale University Press, 2014, ''Xanthoparmelia'' is syn ...

'' ; ''

Graphina lumbschii ''Graphina'' is a genus of script lichens in the family Graphidaceae. It has about 25 species. The genus was circumscribed in 1880 by Swiss lichenologist Johannes Müller Argoviensis. Müller Argoviensis did not indicate a type species for the ge ...

'' ; ''

Sticta lumbschiana ''Sticta'' is a genus of lichens in the family Peltigeraceae. The genus has a widespread distribution, especially in tropical areas, and includes about 114 species. These lichens have a leafy appearance, and are colored brown or black. ''Sticta'' ...

'' ; ''

Fissurina lumbschiana ''Fissurina'' is a genus of lichenized fungi in the family Graphidaceae. The genus was first described by the French botanist Antoine Laurent Apollinaire Fée in an 1825 publication. Species *'' Fissurina abdita'' *'' Fissurina adscribens'' ...

'' ; ''

Ocellularia lumbschii ''Ocellularia'' is a genus of lichens in the family Graphidaceae. The genus was circumscribed by Georg Friedrich Wilhelm Meyer in 1825. Species *'' Ocellularia africana'' *'' Ocellularia allosporoides'' *'' Ocellularia andamanica'' *''Ocellula ...

'' ; and ''

Pertusaria lumbschii ''Pertusaria'' is a large genus of warty crustose lichens in the Pertusariaceae family.Field Guide to California Lichens, Stephen Sharnoff, Yale University Press, 2014, The fruiting bodies are usually modified apothecia that immersed in warts o ...

'' .

Selected publications

* * * * A partial list of his publications (249) may be found by accessing the Scholia link above.

References

Cited literature

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lumbsch, Helge Thorsten 1964 births German lichenologists German taxonomists Scientists from Frankfurt University of Marburg alumni University of Duisburg-Essen alumni Living people