<p>I know lots of the large universities have good Botany or Plant Biology programs, but does anyone know of one that has good classes in the study of Lichens?</p>
<p>Honestly google “university lichens” and you will find those with a lichen herbarium…I am sure these colleges are very interested in lichens.</p>
<p>Having a lichen herbarium doesn’t necessarily mean that any of the current faculty are working on lichens. So do investigate the specific research interests of the botany/plant bio faculty members.</p>
<p>If you have a specific research topic in mind, use Google Scholar [Google</a> Scholar](<a href=“http://scholar.google.com/]Google”>http://scholar.google.com/) to find publications on the topic, and then track down the authors of those papers.</p>
<p>As an undergraduate, I worked in the cryptogamic herbarium at Duke. There’s quite a bit of lichen research going on there, and Duke has long had one of the best botany programs in the country. These days it’s a concentration within the biology major. </p>
<p>The usual suspects – Cornell, WUStL, Berkeley, Wisconsin, UC Davis, Michigan State, Arizona, Harvard, Hawaii, etc. – have lots of botanical research. Humboldt State in California is also quite good for undergrads. </p>
<p>Among LACs, Conn College, Juniata, Middlebury, Ohio Wesleyan, and Swarthmore are particularly good for botany and ecology. </p>
<p>In terms of what to look for in a program, I recommend looking for:
[ul][<em>]An ecology track within a biology program (not just a generic “ecology/evolution” track)
[</em>]At least three or four faculty members working in organismal biology
[<em>]Field-based courses (field botany, vertebrate zoology with fieldwork, etc.)
[</em>]Useful facilities (herbariums, phytotrons, etc.)
[li]At least two or three ecology and/or botany courses offered every semester beyond the generic “intro ecology” courses[/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>You shouldn’t worry about specializing in lichens as early as college. That’s what graduate school (MS and/or PhD) is for.</p>
<p>I agree with the earlier poster who advised you not to specialize too early.</p>
<p>That said, you might check the website of the American Bryological & Lichenologica Society: [ABLS</a> Home Page](<a href=“http://www.abls.org/index.html]ABLS”>http://www.abls.org/index.html)
Look at the links to journals in the field and find out who’s on the editorial boards of those journals or post your query to the listservs for that field.</p>
<p>This is all very helpful! I appreciate the suggestions for smaller colleges to consider. Although I know the large universities may be the preference, I’ve wondered about going to a smaller college first and the larger university for grad school. If you have any other suggestions for colleges (say under 8,000) or Liberal Arts Colleges with good Plant Biology concentrations, I’m all ears! Thanks!!!</p>