I was introduced to the field of lichenology in 1989. As a part of an advanced course in systematic botany, me and a fellow student made an inventory project concerning lichens on oak. In 1991, the crustose, sorediate genus Lepraria became the target of my studies. As a starting point, I screened the secondary chemistry of the collections using high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC), a technique had not previously been used on lichen material (later, I co-authored a paper on the method). I managed to correlate morphological characters of Lepraria with the different chemosyndromes that were found. My supervisors were of great help. A systematic study of the Lepraria species occurring in Skåne, southern Sweden, was the result (published in 1993). This finished my basic biology studies at Lund University and, in 1992, I was accepted as a graduate student at the Department of systematic botany, Lund University.
The systematics of the lichen genus Xanthoria became the main focus of my research. I investigated anatomical, morphological, and chemical characters in classical taxonomical studies and gained much experience in interpreting morphological variation in the various taxa of Xanthoria. My thesis concentrated on the taxa occurring in North America north of Mexico. The thesis "The genus Xanthoria (Fr.) Th. Fr. in North America" was defended in December 1997. My further Xanthoria research has been conducted in my spare time. I participate in the Greater Sonoran Desert Lichen Flora Project, and my latest publication is a description of the new species X. tenuiloba from Baja California.
I have initiated a revision of the genus Xanthoria in the Nordic countries. In 2001, I received funding for a field trip, which was done in Norway and Sweden during last summer. Most of the known localities for the red listed taxon X. fallax were visited and about 40 potentially good localities for Xanthoria were investigated. An extensive material of Xanthoria and other lichens and bryophytes was collected, including potentially new species for the area or to science.
My interest has now also turned towards an integration of morphological and molecular variation of the genus Xanthoria, with particular focus on the intraspecific variation of Xanthoria parietina. During 2000/2001, I performed preliminary investigations together with Stefan Ekman, Department of Botany, University of Bergen. The results are very promising, and we will continue with a comprehensive project during the next 4-5 years.
