Annual general meeting (2026, Olympia, WA). Registration for the meeting is through the Northwest Scientific Association website: https://www.northwestscience.org/ The meeting has talks, a workshop, and one or more field trips. See photos from past meetings. For information on giving a talk or poster and for the general schedule, see the NWSA link above.
Schedule and summary of lichen activities for this year's meeting posted here.
Support for students and lichen enthusiasts.
To encourage broad engagement with lichenology research by students and non-student lichen enthusiasts, NWL is offering $150 awards to help offset the costs of travel and attendance to the upcoming NW Lichenologist meeting in conjunction with NW Scientific Association at The Evergreen State College in Olympia Washington, March 24-27, 2026. Awards will be offered to presenting authors of either posters or presentations. You may submit one application per poster or presentation, indicating the number of presenting authors. For two attending co-authors, each applicant will receive $150 dollars. For 3 or more attending authors, the $300 can be divided among the authors as they see fit. The stipend can be used to cover meeting registration fees or travel expenses and will be awarded based on the order received. Deadline for application: Feb. 16. Awards will be announced to applicants by March 9, 2026. Apply here. Questions? Email <kglew@uw.edu>
Please also check for opportunities with your college or university -- most of those have small grants for student travel to meetings.
Schedule
Field trips:
Official NWL Field Trip: Cape Disappointment State Park (Friday)
Cape Disappointment State Park is located at the mouth of the Columbia River, at headlands of the Pacific Ocean. This breathtaking coastal landscape experiences intense salt spray, persistent fog, and powerful winds. These conditions support an interesting mosaic of lichen microhabitats from windswept basalt cliffs to sheltered Sitka spruce forests. We will explore lichen diversity in the park, including salt-tolerant crustose species on exposed rock, rich epiphytic communities along coastal conifers, including rare cyanolichen species that thrive in humid coastal forests. Come prepared with rubber boots, rain gear, and a hand lens. Waterproof hiking boots may keep your feet dry but rubber boots are a better bet. We will have a few extra hand lenses to share. For more information contact: Lalita Calabria (calabril@evergreen.edu)
Mini-Foray: Participants will have the opportunity to attend a mini-foray exploring lichen diversity of the forests and beaches of Evergreen's 1,000-acre campus on the first day of the conference (check the official schedules or details). There will be an opportunity to visit a site on campus with the rare lichen Hypotrachyna afrorevoluta!
Workshop: Alpine Lichen Identification Workshop with Elise Grage and Katherine Glew: This workshop will focus on alpine lichen communities of the Olympic National Park, specifically from Deer Park, Buckhorn Mountain, and Elk Mountain. Surveys were originally conducted by Katherine Glew in 1998. A recent resurvey of these historical transects was completed to assess climate-driven changes to alpine lichen communities by Elise Grage. Elise and Katherine will provide a short overview of lichen diversity and rare species followed by the opportunity to assist with identification of challenging crustose species and learn about the alpine lichen species diversity and ecology.
Lodging: Evergreen will be offering dormitory rooms for meeting attendees. Double occupancy room will be $54.90, and the single occupancy will be $62.96. For those looking for a hotel, we recommend the Hilton Garden Inn in downtown Olympia. This hotel is on the bus line (~15 minutes to Evergreen campus) and walking distance to restaurants and a grocery store. For a cheaper hotel option, consider The Motel 6 in Tumwater, also ~15 minute drive to campus and 5 minutes to downtown Olympia.
Further meeting details will appear here as they become available. This year's local host and organizer is Dr. Lalita Calabria at Evergreen State College.
Future years: We are eager to have YOU help to organize the lichen part of the annual meeting. The meeting is arranged on a year-by-year basis, depending on the location of the NWSA meeting. This usually happens in mid to late March. The annual meeting typically has four components: talks that present ongoing or completed research (we try to keep this as casual and informal as possible); a workshop on a particular topic, genus, or area; field trips to some local spots of interest; and evening socializing, usually at a local restaurant.
