Brian John Coppins

Brian John Coppins (born 1949) is a botanist and lichenologist, considered a world authority on crustose lichens and a leading expert on the genus Micarea.

Education Coppins' interest in lichens was sparked during a field trip to the Scottish island of Handa while studying at Tunbridge Wells Technical School for Boys. His early enthusiasm for lichens was notable; as a sixth-former, he and two friends, including Allan Pentecost, organised their own lichen expedition to Ireland, travelling by public transport and using The Observer's Book of Lichens for identification. Upon their return, they visited the British Museum, London to seek expert help with identifying their specimens. After receiving his B.Sc. in 1970, Coppins became a graduate student at King's College London and studied lichen ecophysiology under the supervision of Francis Rose but he changed the focus of his doctoral studies to the taxonomy of Micarea species found in Europe.

Career In 1974 was appointed as an ascomycete taxonomist in the herbarium of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE). He spent his career there, retiring in May 2009. He received his Ph.D. in 1982 from University College London.

Prior to his appointment at Edinburgh, Coppins made contributions to regional lichen research, particularly to the Northumberland lichen flora. He was known for his ability to find small, previously overlooked species by carefully examining tree roots and peeling back grass from around boulders. During field surveys, he demonstrated an ability to identify most lichens without laboratory examination. His expertise was such that other lichenologists would gather for informal field meetings when he visited an area, benefiting from his knowledge. His co-collectors include Ursula Katherine Duncan, David John Galloway, Peter W. James, and Francis Rose. He also collaborated with in field studies on lichen distributions with Oliver Gilbert, Alan Fryday and Vince Giavarini.

Following the retirements of Peter James and Jack Laundon from the British Museum (Natural History) in the late 1980s, Coppins emerged as a central figure in British lichenology. Since his PhD on the genus Micarea was published in 1983, he had gradually acquired an international reputation as an expert on small and difficult lichens, with fieldworkers coining the phrase "a Coppins species" for particularly small or taxonomically challenging specimens. He became the primary taxonomic authority consulted by lichenologists throughout Britain, with specimens from around the world sent to him for identification. His speed and accuracy at identifying lichens under the microscope became legendary among colleagues. Briancoppinsia, Brianiopsis, and Snippocia, and the lichen species Dictyonema coppinsii.