News Release : November 2003 - First AFToL Visitor, New Graduate Student

Our lab welcomes two new arrivals: Damien Ertz, the first visiting scholar supported by the NSF AFTOL grant, and Suzanne Joneson, a new Ph.D student. Damien, a Ph.D. student in lichenology at the National Botanical Garden of Belgium, is working to revise the paleotropical Opegrapha (crustose lichens). During his four-month stay at Duke, Damien is focusing on molecular systematics of the family Roccellaceae. Suzanne completed her Master's research (systematics of the Ramalina almquistii complex) at the University of Washington, and joined the Lutzoni lab in August to explore the molecular and genetic bases of lichen symbioses. Her interests center on elucidating the genes and molecular processes involved in the formation of lichen associations.