astronomy

James D. Lawrey

James D. Lawrey 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 James D. Lawrey rather than just read about it. In short: James Donald Lawrey is a biologist, specializing in lichens. He is known for leading long-term monitoring projects, taxonomy and studies of the evolution of the fungi in lichens.

Key takeaways

James D. Lawrey belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
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Reproduce the core statement of James D. Lawrey from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

James Donald Lawrey is a biologist, specializing in lichens. He is known for leading long-term monitoring projects, taxonomy and studies of the evolution of the fungi in lichens.

Early life and education After growing up in Rockville, Maryland, James (Jim) Donald Lawrey attended Wake Forest University (B.S. in Biology, 1971) and the University of South Dakota (M.A. in biology, 1973). He gained his doctorate from Ohio State University in 1977 working on the plant, lichen and fungal communities in an abandoned coal mine, supervised by Emanuel Rudolph.

Career After the award of his doctorate in 1977, he was immediately employed by George Mason University and was promoted to full professor in 1993 where he remained throughout his career. The focus of his research is fungal diversity and ecology and he particularly makes use of molecular phylogenetics, utilising DNA sequencing to identify fungi and assesses relationships between species. He is especially interested in the evolution of lichens and the fungi that form part of them. His work has provided new insight into the basidiolichens, focusing on the Dictyonema clade. From the 1970s he has been part of programs to monitor lichens in natural environments, initially collaborating with Mason Hale on a long-term program at Plummers Island in the Potomac River, Maryland and then working with the National Park Service at other sites within their remit. During the 1990s he worked extensively on the role of the secondary metabolites synthesized by the fungi within lichens, especially as mechanisms of defence.

Honours and awards In 2015 he became a research associate at the Smithsonian Institution. In 2021 he was awarded the Acharius Medal by the International Association for Lichenology for his outstanding lifetime achievements with lichens. Lawrey has been President of the American Bryological and Lichenological Society and the Washington Biologists Field Club (1996–1999), associate editor of The Lichenologist and senior editor of The Bryologist. The genus of lichenicolous fungi Lawreymyces Lücking & Moncada has been named in his honor, as have the lichen species Dictyonema lawreyi Dal Forno, Kaminsky & Lücking and Parmotrema lawreyi Bungartz & Spielmann.

Publications Lawrey is the author or co-author of at least a hundred scientific papers and book chapters as well as a book about the fungi of lichens. His most significant include:

Diederich, P., J. D. Lawrey & D. Ertz. 2018. The 2018 classification and checklist of lichenicolous fungi, with 2000 non-lichenized, obligately lichenicolous taxa. The Bryologist 121: 340-425. Lücking, R., M. Dal-Forno, M. Sikaroodi, P. M. Gillevet, F. Bungartz, B. Moncada, A. Yánez-Ayabaca, J. L. Chaves, L. F. Coca & J. D. Lawrey. 2014. A single macrolichen constitutes hundreds of unrecognized species. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U.S.A. 111: 11091-11096. James Lawrey (1984) Biology of Lichenized Fungi Praeger 418pp ISBN 978 0275912116 By 2019 Lawrey had established two new orders of lichens (Lichenoconiales Diederich, Lawrey & K.D. Hyde and Lichenostigmatales Ertz, Diederich & Lawrey), two new families (Lepidostromataceae Ertz, Eb. Fisch., Killmann, Sérusiaux, & Lawrey and Lichenoconiaceae Diederich & Lawrey), eight new genera, and 37 species.

See also Category:Taxa named by James D. Lawrey

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with James D. Lawrey

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what James D. Lawrey 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 James D. Lawrey 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 James D. Lawrey 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 James D. Lawrey

In research: James D. Lawrey 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 James D. Lawrey 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: James D. Lawrey is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1949 births, 20th-century American botanists, Acharius Medal recipients, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for James D. Lawrey 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 James D. Lawrey in 20 minutes

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Frequently asked questions

What is James D. Lawrey in simple terms?

James Donald Lawrey is a biologist, specializing in lichens. He is known for leading long-term monitoring projects, taxonomy and studies of the evolution of the fungi in lichens.

Why does James D. Lawrey 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 James D. Lawrey?

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 James D. Lawrey.