About

This website is managed by Petra Vergunst, a freelance field ecologist specialised in lichens and bryophytes. After an MSc in Forestry from Wageningen University, The Netherlands, she completed a PhD in Rural Development with The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in which she explored the interface between rural development and nature conservation through the ecological theory of adaptive management.

Since then, she has been involved in research and lecturing while pursuing a career as a freelance field ecologist with a strong interest in biological recording and community engagement. Alongside this website, she has set up, and facilitates, the Facebook group Scottish Lichens to engage more people with lichens, mosses and liverworts. 

For more information on, and to discuss your ideas for training and (self-)guided walks and surveys and ecological writing, Petra can be contacted at scottishlichens [at] hotmail [dot] com.

January 2026, Petra will launch her series of lichen and bryophyte themed distance learning courses with the course Lichens On Trees.