Richard Clinton Harris

Richard Clinton Harris
Born
Richard Clinton Harris

(1939-12-06)December 6, 1939
DiedMay 10, 2021(2021-05-10) (aged 81)
Alma materOberlin College; Michigan State University
Known forSystematics of pyrenocarpous lichens; lichen floras of eastern North America; regional identification manuals for Florida and Puerto Rico
SpouseWilliam R. Buck (m. 2013)
Scientific career
FieldsLichenology; mycology
InstitutionsThe New York Botanical Garden
Thesis "A Taxonomic Revision of the Genus Arthopyrenia Massal. s. lat. (Ascomycetes) in North America'  (1975)
Doctoral advisorsHenry Andrew Imshaug
Author abbrev. (botany)R.C.Harris

Richard Clinton "Dick" Harris (December 6, 1939 – May 10, 2021) was an American lichenologist associated for most of his career with the New York Botanical Garden. He was especially known for his work on pyrenocarpous lichens and lichenicolous fungi and for his wide field knowledge of the lichen flora of eastern North America. Over more than five decades he described over 200 new species and infraspecific taxa, 14 genera, and three families of lichen-forming and lichenicolous fungi, and became an influential figure in North American organismal lichenology.