SERVICES
Lichens are all around you, but it takes a bit of help to see them clearly.
Aspen Ecology is dedicated to helping people understand, record, conserve and enjoy lichens.
Whether you’re restoring nature, looking after land, planning a new development, or teaching or learning about biodiversity, it’s vital to appreciate the beauty of lichens and to value the important ecological role they play.
Lichen Surveys
Lichens are neglected and under-recorded biodiversity. Let Aspen Ecology help you examine your site for lichens, whether to update old data, monitor significant species or – perhaps more likely – conduct your first lichen survey.
Lichen Consultancy
Lichens are an ecologically fundamental species group. From nature-recovery work and biodiversity conservation, to land management and development planning, let Aspen Ecology help you take the value of lichens into account.
Lichen Training
Lichens are unusual organisms that demand specialist study. Whether a devoted amateur naturalist or a professional ecologist, let Aspen Ecology guide you and your team towards a fuller understanding of lichens and their habits.
Lichen Education
Lichens are curiously beautiful, and quite simply unique on Earth. Let Aspen Ecology lead a lichen talk, walk, webinar, workshop or course for your organisation or school, and participants won’t look at lichens the same way again.
THE ASPEN
Lichens have a special love of aspen trees.
Aspen Ecology honours the aspen, Populus tremula, one of the first trees to colonise Britain after the Ice Age. Its mild and multi-textured bark offers varied micro-habitats for lichens, and it hosts more species than perhaps any other British tree. Aspen can still be found across Britain, but it’s an uncommon tree in a country of lost forests. Like the lichens that love it, aspen is neglected biodiversity.
Our logo reproduces the distinctive diamond-shaped lenticels that characterise aspen bark.
Image: Øyvind Holmstad, CC-BY-SA 4.0
OUTREACH
Take advantage of our public lichen outreach.
Aspen Ecology’s lichen education is often available to the public through nature charities, or through our own workshops and courses. Upcoming opportunities include:
LICHEN WORKSHOP
Understanding and appreciating lichens
SUFFOLK WILDLIFE TRUST
Lichens are probably the most fascinating yet overlooked life-forms in the natural world. In this half-day workshop, Anthony Speca will bring the compelling world of lichens out of the background. We’ll begin with an enjoyable and stimulating introduction to lichens, and then we’ll head out into Carlton Marshes Nature Reserve to observe lichens ‘in the wild’!
8 JUNE 2025
SWT Carlton Marshes, Carlton Colville, Suffolk
LICHEN COURSE
FIELD STUDIES COUNCIL
Lichens could be the poster child for neglected biodiversity. Even though they’re all around us, few people really notice them. But we should! Lichens aren’t just strange and beautiful, they also play an outsized ecological role. What’s more, they’re unique on Earth. This two-day course will cover all the lichen basics, including plenty of time observing lichens outdoors. You’ll build a solid understanding of lichens, and you’ll be equipped with the skills and knowledge to look more deeply into the lichens all around you.
21-22 JUNE 2025
FSC Flatford Mill, East Bergholt, Essex
LICHEN WALK
Walking the path to enlichenment
HALESWORTH ASH
Lichens are probably the most fascinating yet overlooked life-forms in the natural world. On this walk, Anthony Speca will bring them out of the background. Be captivated by their curious beauty, learn about their ecological importance, and become aware of some of the threats they face in the Suffolk countryside. Take a step down the path to ‘enlichenment’, and a walk through the woods will never be the same again!
29 JUNE 2025
Rydal Mount, Wissett, Suffolk
FIELD NOTES AND NEWS
Follow our work and learn about the lichens we see.
Lichens are symbiotic organisms, and lichenology is a community activity. We believe in sharing our field notes about lichens we see. Keep up with our notes and news, and learn lichens with us.
TESTIMONIALS
Discover lichens with Aspen Ecology.
We do our best to make the hidden, complex and remarkable world of lichens visible, manageable and enjoyable. Here’s what others say about our work.
Very many thanks for [the lichen microscopy workshop] yesterday. I’ve had lots of feedback from folk who were there, all very positive and many saying it was the best meeting we have ever had.
Gordon Brown, Anglian Microscopy Group
It was a pleasure working with Anthony for our Help Nature Thrive citizen science project. His knowledge, enthusiasm and passion for lichens was infectious: our citizen scientists left with smiles on their faces, inspired to spread the word about incredible lichens! Our biodiversity team also will benefit from the new species records collected on the surveys, with some species previously unrecorded in our central parks.
Gemma Hindi, The Royal Parks
Thank you very much for all your generous work and your very thorough report on the lichens of Gallows Field. It is really appreciated and helpful.
Jane Hamilton, Dunwich Town Trust
Anthony’s expertise, and knowledge of teaching, meant that our students were fully engaged and inquisitive throughout the whole of the ‘lichenology day’ that he delivered for us. The knowledge they gained went far beyond what they would learn as part of their curriculum, and I hope that some may even consider a career involving lichens! A massive thank you for a brilliant, engaging and informative day.
Dr Natalia Wharton, Hobart High School
