Irwin Brodo will be awarded the degree of Dactor of Science, honoris causa, at the 9:30 a.m. cerernony on Tuesday, June 14, “in recognition of a distinguished career in lichenology and scientific leadership in the international bio-systematics community.”
Irwin Bredo retired in 2000 from the Canadian Museum of Nature where he was a Research Lichenologist for 35 years, and chief of the Botany Division for more than eight. A native of New York City, he received a B.S. from City College in New York, an M.S. in biology from Cornell University, and a Ph.D. in botany from Michigan State University. He has published over 90 research papers, including numerous on British Columbia lichens, and an identification guidebook on the lichens of the Ottawa region.
He has taught at l’Université Laval in Quebec City and the University of Alaska in Juneau, and directed master’s degree students at Carleton and the University of Ottawa. In addition to lecturing throughout North
America and Europe, Dr. Brodo frequently gives workshops and leads field trips for amateur groups.
Recently, he completed a four-year term as president of the International Association for Lichenolegy (/AL), which awarded him an Eric Acharius medal in 1994 for his contributions to lichenology. He has been president of the American Bryological and Lichenological Society and the Canadian Botanical Association, and received the CBA’s Mary Elliot Service Award in 1993 and the George Lawson Medial in 2004. He continues-to work at the Canadian Museum of Nature as Research Lichenologist Emeritus.