Name: Lichens of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument - Friday Night Talk
Start: 2025-02-21T18:00:00-08:00
End: 2025-02-21T19:30:00-08:00
Location: Ashland Food Co-op - Community Classroom

Learn about these often-overlooked organisms and their role in the incredible biodiversity of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument.
About this Event

Lichens are very common in southern Oregon. They are found on natural and man-made features including across rock surfaces, festooning from tree branches, speckling the sidewalks in town, and on (and within) many other substrates. However, they are often overlooked. We will discuss what lichens are, how they interact with their surroundings, and basic identification of different types, including some we will see on the snowshoe hike the following day. We hope you leave you with a better understanding and appreciation of these fascinating organisms.

Scot Loring, Board Member, has been working as a botanist / mycologist throughout Oregon since 1994, conducting various research, inventory, rare species survey, and monitoring projects. He is a consultant for various entities including the Medford District BLM. He led a botanical survey which included the majority of CSNM which resulted in the discovery of many previously unknown rare vascular plant, non-vascular plant, and lichen occurrences, and species previously unknown from the Monument. He has discovered species of fungi, lichens, and plants new to science, including two new genera. He is a Pacific Northwest native, and graduated from The Evergreen State College.

The Friday Hike and Learn sessions will take place in the Ashland Food Co-op Community Classroom at 300 N. Pioneer in Ashland from 6:00 to 7:30pm. The classroom is one block toward downtown from the grocery store on N 1st Street. This Eventbrite is for the Friday Talk ONLY, register for Saturday hike HERE. Attendance to Friday Night Talks is limited to 40 people.

Friends of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument is a nonprofit organization and our mission is to support the protection, restoration and conservation of the monument through service, advocacy and education. Our Hike and Learn programs are designed to introduce the public to different topics and locations within the Monument. Hike and Learns are co-created with local scientists, historians, artists, students, and more.