Lichen it with Evan

Hosted by the North Cascades Institute

Cost for class: $50

Among the most quizzical and overlooked of all life on our planet is the lovely lichen. Lichen can be found on every corner of the earth, from the poles to the tropics. They are fascinating organisms with many properties, such as, food, medicine, and dye.

Bridging two kingdoms of life, lichens are a composite life form. They feature a fungal component as well as a botanical. This accessible workshop provides you an opportunity to familiarize yourself with the most unfamiliar inhabitants of your backyard!

Astonishing variety and near-omnipresence make lichens awfully hard to describe and conceptualize. In this workshop we’ll visit living specimens in the forest to illustrate the basics. The 100-acre woods feature a variety of lichens, including those of the main growth types that will help us wrap our heads around the incredible variability of shape and form.

Evan is a program coordinator and field educator at North Cascades Institute who fancies all things fungal in his free time. He has taken numerous visitors “lichen hikin'” around the Environmental Learning Center and this workshop is a way to bring his knowledge to the Bellingham area.

For more information click here.