Thorsten Lumbsch

Thorsten joined the Museum as Assistant Curator in 2003, developing a research program focused on the evolution of lichen-forming fungi. In 2006 he was soon promoted to Associate Curator and then to full Curator in 2014. From 2009 to 2013 he served as chair of the Department of Botany and after a reorganization of the Museum’s scientific areas, as Associate Director and then Director of the Integrative Research Center (2013–2017).

Thorsten has been fascinated by lichens (often overlooked but ecologically important) since childhood, publishing his first scientific paper at age 15. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Essen in 1993, and served as an assistant professor at the University of Duisburg-Essen before joining the Field. His publications number more than 480 papers, 20 book chapters, and five books. He has active research collaborations in Thailand, Spain, and Kenya, and is an investigator on research grants in the U.S. Brazil, and Spain. Fieldwork has taken him to more than a dozen countries including Australia, India, Kenya, Thailand, Vietnam, and also Antarctica, and he has collaborated on the description of more than 280 new lichen species. Thorsten is managing editor of the journal MycoKeys member of a dozen other editorial boards, and past president of the International Association for Lichenology.

In addition to his administrative and research roles, Thorsten is also active as a mentor to the scientists of tomorrow. He is a lecturer at the University of Chicago, and is active in advising graduate students there and the University of Illinois–Chicago. He also supervises postdoctoral scientists at the Museu...