Professional and amateur lichenologists from around North America met in our neighbourhood from September 5th to 10th of 2019 for their 28th Tuckerman gathering. With financial support from the NY Botanical Garden and Canadian Museum of Nature, the group of about 38 participants stayed at the provincial park’s conference center. The newly renovated facility provided sleeping quarters, large kitchen/dining area and most importantly a large conference room, which was converted into a temporary laboratory full of microscopes on loan from Lakehead University’s Biology Department. The group explored our lichen rich boreal environment and will add substantially to the list of known species occurring in the park. Final results will be available by March of 2020, but early indications are that the group may have found not only new species for our area and North America, but possibly previously unknown lichen(s)!! You can hear more about the workshop at this link.
Conference facility at Sleeping Giant Provincial Park 
Our first field trip – Thunder Bay Lookout. One group explored the cliffs South of the lookout, others (photos) remained on the rocky plateau. 
Too many Cladonias! 
Temporary lichenological laboratory 
Second day of the workshop along the trail to Tee Harbour and side trip to the Sea Lion formation. 
Third day of the workshop was in a an old growth cedar forest on the way to the Lookout. 
Young participants from Colorado, Iowa and Tennessee 
Small lake near Thunder Bay Lookout 
Cassie Robbillard on her home turf, now with the Museum of Nature. 
The object of lichenologists’ affections – Cladonia pleurota 
Something interesting on every tree…. 
Troy “doing lichenological penance” – I wish I knew what the interesting lichen on the 3 pound rock was! 
Beauty of the workshop is the help one can get from lichen experts. 
Interesting lichens grow everywhere – shady rock cliff can support tens of different species. 
Other life forms were also interested in our human visitors….. 
Last field day – the route to Findlay Bay rock cliffs marked with “paper bag bread crumbs” 
Lichens Dermatocarpon moulinsii (grey) and bright orange Xanthoparmelia sorediata 
Finally at the cliffs….. 
Lichenologists in their paradise