Kerry Kent Knudsen is a mycological taxonomist and lichenologist at the University of Life Sciences in Prague. Kerry founded a lichen herbarium at the University of California at Riverside (UCR) and has published 215 papers and articles on lichens. He is a specialist in the lichen biodiversity of southern California and in the order of Acarosporales, which occur around the world. With his wife Jana Kocourkova, who is also a lichenologist, they have begun a four-year project working on lichen biodiversity in the Chihuahuan Desert in New Mexico.

If you have ever wondered what constitutes a good lichen habitat, what our understanding of lichens reveal about the value systems we prescribe to, or how to navigate beyond the chaos of today, then this episode is for you. We are reminded that while lichen may have a smaller presence or hold little “value” in utilitarian terms, they still possess ethereal qualities. Other topics Kerry and Ayana cover include the fragility of lichens in changing climates, the invaluable work of citizen scientists, the limitations of science as a “rational” data-driven field, and how the Anthropocene is shaping our understanding of biodiversity and extinction.

♫ Music by The Savage Young Taterbug