astronomy

Irwin M. Brodo

Irwin M. Brodo is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Irwin M. Brodo rather than just read about it. In short: Irwin Murray Brodo (born November 7, 1935 in New York City) is an emeritus scientist at the Canadian Museum of Nature, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He is an authority on the identification and biology of lichens.

Key takeaways

Irwin M. Brodo belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Irwin M. Brodo to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Irwin M. Brodo from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Irwin Murray Brodo (born November 7, 1935 in New York City) is an emeritus scientist at the Canadian Museum of Nature, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He is an authority on the identification and biology of lichens.

Early life and education Brodo grew up in the Bronx and attended City College in Manhattan as an undergraduate. He went on to do his graduate studies at Columbia University, and received a master's degree from Cornell University. He earned a Ph.D. in lichenology under the supervision of Henry Imshaug at Michigan State University.

Career and research In 1965, Brodo was hired by the National Museum of Canada (now the Canadian Museum of Nature), where he continues to work as a research scientist emeritus. Over his career, he has built the lichen collection (CANL) into one of the best in North America. His research includes in-depth studies on challenging genera such as Bryoria, Lecanora, and Ochrolechia. His 1968 work on the lichens of Long Island and the effects of air pollutants was pioneering in the field. In 1970, Brodo started to edit the exsiccata series Lichenes Canadenses exsiccati.

Selected publications Brodo's list of publications includes approximately 100 scientific articles, 8 popular articles, 22 reviews and 6 editorials and obituaries. One of his great achievements was the publication in 2001 of the 795 page book, Lichens of North America with high-quality photographs of lichens taken by Sylvia Sharnoff and Stephen Sharnoff. It won the 2002 National Outdoor Book Award (Nature Guidebook). In 2016, he produced Keys to Lichens of North America: Revised and Expanded, a spiral-bound workbook of over 400 pages including keys to 2045 species.

Teaching and mentorship Brodo has taught at Université Laval and the University of Alaska, and he also supervised master's students at the University of Ottawa and Carleton University. He has also given numerous introductory workshops, including a popular field-course on crustose lichens at the Eagle Hill Institute in coastal Maine.

Professional Leadership Brodo has held several leadership positions in professional organizations. He served as President of the International Association for Lichenology for a four-year term and President of the American Bryological and Lichenological Society for a two-year term. He has also been involved in public service, including work with the Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club and the Ottawa-Hull chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.

Honors and awards Brodo has received numerous honors throughout his career. In 1994, he was honored with an Acharius Medal presented to him by the International Association for Lichenology. In 1993, Brodo was awarded the Mary E. Elliot Service Award for his meritorious service to the Canadian Botanical Association — and in 2003, for lifetime achievement, the association's George Lawson Medal. In 2013, Brodo was presented with an honorary doctorate from Carleton University, "in recognition of his distinguished career in lichenology and scientific leadership in the international biosystematics community".

Eponyms A lichen genus and several lichen taxa have been named to honor Brodo. These eponyms include:

Brodoa Goward (1987); Bactrospora brodoi Egea & Torrente (1993) Lecanora brodoana Lumbsch & T.Nash (1995); Megalaria brodoana S.Ekman & Tønsberg (1996); Bryoria trichodes subsp. brodoana Bystr. & Fabiszewski (1998); Lecidea brodoana Hertel & Leuckert (2004); Ochrolechia brodoi Kukwa (2011); Lepraria brodoi Lendemer & Tønsberg (2014); Rinodina brodoana Sheard, Lendemer & E.A.Tripp (2014); Acarospora brodoana K.Knudsen, Kocourk. & M.Westb. (2016); Alectoria brodoana Essl. (2016); Bryoria irwinii Goward & Myllys (2016); and Catinaria brodoana R.C.Harris & W.R.Buck (2016).

See also Category:Taxa named by Irwin Brodo

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Irwin M. Brodo

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Irwin M. Brodo claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Irwin M. Brodo before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Irwin M. Brodo ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Irwin M. Brodo

In research: Irwin M. Brodo appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Irwin M. Brodo in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Irwin M. Brodo is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1935 births, 20th-century Canadian biologists, 20th-century Canadian botanists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Irwin M. Brodo outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Irwin M. Brodo in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Irwin M. Brodo means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Irwin M. Brodo out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Irwin M. Brodo in simple terms?

Why does Irwin M. Brodo matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Irwin M. Brodo?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Irwin M. Brodo.