Orvo Vitikainen (born 11 October 1940 in Taipalsaari) is a Finnish lichenologist. He entered the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

in 1961, from where he obtained a Candidate of Philosophy degree in 1966, and a Licentiate of Philosophy in 1971. He later earned a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

from this institution in 1994, under the supervision of

Teuvo Ahti Teuvo ("Ted") Tapio Ahti (born 1934) is a Finnish botanist and lichenologist. He has had a long career at the University of Helsinki that started in 1963, and then following his retirement in 1997, at the Botanical Museum of the Finnish Museum ...

. Between the years 1961 and 1981 he was a junior

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

of cryptogams at the University of Helsinki Botanical Garden, and then from 1983 to 2004 he was the head of the lichen

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (called ...

. Here he managed the internationally valuable collections of the early lichenologists Erik Acharius and William Nylander. He has collected thousands of specimens for the herbarium from various locations in Finland, but also internationally, including Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Russian Karelia, Scotland, Austria, Italy, Hungary, Croatia, Montenegro, Tanzania, Kenya,

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, and Brazil. In 1992–1994, he was a scientist of the Finnish Academy in the Ahti research group. Vitikainen is an expert on the

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.Peltigera ''Peltigera'' is a genus of approximately 100 species of foliose lichens in the family Peltigeraceae. Commonly known as the dog or pelt lichens, species of ''Peltigera'' are often terricolous (growing on soil), but can also occur on moss, trees, ...

''. He contributed chapters on the families Peltigeraceae and Nephromataceae for the popular 2007 work ''Nordic Lichen Flora''. He is also interested in the history of lichenology and has published several papers in this area. Vitikainen is honoured in the names of the lichens ''

Atla vitikainenii ''Atla vitikainenii'' is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling) in the family Verrucariaceae. Found in northern Finland, it was formally described as a new species in 2016 by Juha Pykälä and Leena Myllys. The type specimen was collected by t ...

'', '' Nephroma orvoi'', and ''

Verrucaria vitikainenii ''Verrucaria vitikainenii'' is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling) crustose lichen in the family Verrucariaceae. It is found in Finland, where it occurs on calcareous rock outcrops. Taxonomy The lichen was formally described as a new spe ...

''. He is described by his colleagues as "a modest, patient, friendly and industrious colleague", and "an important joint in the great chain of lichenological tradition in Finland".

Selected works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vitikainen, Orvo 1940 births Living people Finnish lichenologists People from Taipalsaari University of Helsinki alumni 20th-century Finnish scientists 21st-century Finnish scientists Finnish taxonomists