 |
|
|
 The TICOLICHEN Costa Rican Lichen Biodiversity Inventory includes a wide array of training activities. During the three international field trips, we used the many opportunities outside and inside the lab to exchange taxonomic experiences and to instruct the accompanying students from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (Marie Trest, Matthew Nelsen) and the Universidad de Costa Rica (Daniela Lizano) in the identification of tropical lichen genera and species. The curator for microfungi and lichens at INBio, Loengrin Umaña, and the local parataxonomists and database specialists José Luis Chaves, Enia Navarro, Eida Fletes, Issac Lopez, Ronald Rodriguez, Eduardo Alvarado, are trained in collection and preparation techniques, as well as in the taxonomy of selected groups. José Luis Chaves has already gained extensive knowledge on tropical lichen taxonomy, and after less than two years in the project is able to identify most genera and many species in the field. Apart from these field work-related activities, the PI has also held a lichen course at the University of Costa Rica in October 2002, and an international workshop will be held at Las Cruces Biological Station in October 2004, including 30 students and professionals and three instructors from 12 countries in North America, Central America, and South America.
|
|
|
