Gary Perlmutter
Gary Perlmutter is the lead author of the Lichens of NC website. He is an Associate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium (NCU). Originally from southern California, he first became interested in lichens and lichenology while studying at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden (SBBG) as an independent researcher in 1996. Gary took his skills, curiosity and starter collection of about 25 specimens from a lichen workshop at SBBG to North Carolina where he has been active in collecting, studying and teaching lichen classes and workshops since his arrival in 2003. In 2016 Gary has earned a M.S. degree from North Carolina State University with the thesis: “Assessing Highway Pollution Effects on Forest Lichen Communities in Western Wake County, North Carolina, USA.” Gary has published several papers in peer-reviewed journals and newsletters from 2005 to present, including checklist reports with ecological analysis, and taxonomic reviews. Gary manages the lichen collection at NCU as well as the North Carolina lichen checklist from its first publication in 2005 to its present form in the NCBP Lichens of North Carolina website.