DEUG, Biology, University of Strasbourg, France, 1991
M.S., Botany, University of Orléans, France, 1993

1999. Karling Award, Botanical Society of America

1999. Graduate Research Award, American Society of Plant Taxonomists.

Monophyletic circumscription of the family Acarosporaceae and the genus Acarospora (lichen-forming ascomycetes).

The genus Acarospora is one of the largest genera of the lichen-forming fungi, but it is also one of the most complex and poorly known. The enormous morphological variation and the cryptic nature of the characters of these saxicolous crustose lichens have been interpreted very differently by systematists. Thus the number of species within the genus Acarospora has varied dramatically over the last 70 years. The same disagreement is found at the family level. According to various authors, the number of genera included in the Acarosporaceae is anywhere from five to ten.

My research will focus on the circumscription of the family Acarosporaceae and the genus Acarospora. For that purpose, I will use techniques that have never been applied to the study of this group, such as analyses of lichen secondary compounds using Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC), description of new characters provided by axenic cultures of these lichens, and establishing the phylogenetic relationships within the group using multiple gene sequences. I will further revise the morphology and anatomy, in order to provide a new classification of the Acarospora and Acarosporaceae.

Current Position:

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