Mason Ellsworth Hale

Mason Ellsworth Hale, Jr. (September 23, 1929 – April 23, 1990) was one of the most prolific American lichenologists of the 20th century. Then he became an Associate Curator at the Smithsonian Institution, where he worked from 1957 until his death. In 33 years at the Smithsonian, Hale collected close to 80,000 specimens and made the Smithsonian Institution one of the largest lichen herbariums in the world. Hale made numerous expeditions to tropical regions including the Caribbean, Central and South America, Asia, and Africa. One of his favorite expeditions was to collect endolithic lichens in Antarctica.

Advances in chemistry and technology Mason Hale was primarily a taxonomist, but his taxonomic framework and methodology for describing new species was dependent on modern technology. Hale was one of the first lichen experts to use chemical tests to study species delineations.

Hale also widely collected and described crustose lichens in the Graphidaceae and Thelotremataceae (now synonymized with Graphidaceae). In addition to his work on community ecology of lichens, Hale examined the yearly growth rate of lichens in Aton Forest. and Lichens of California. An important symposia on current topics was The Lichens. Introductory texts to lichen study include Biology of Lichens. Hale and Culberson also compiled the first checklist to North American lichens and lichenicolous fungi in 1956. Lastly, Hale and his son printed the newsletters for the International Association for Lichenology on old printing presses and made the typesetting by hand.

Statistics and awards According to Google Scholar, Mason Hale wrote approximately 200 peer-reviewed journal articles and has been cited over 4,800 times. Notable scientists who studied under Hale were: Paula DePriest, Theodore L. Esslinger, and Syo Kurokawa. In his memory, the IAL created the Mason Hale Award for best doctoral study. The Bryologist, a peer-reviewed journal, dedicated the entire Autumn 1993 issue as a memoriam.

Eponymous taxa and other legacy The following are a partial list of species named after Mason Hale. The list focuses primarily on North American taxa: Abrothallus halei Cladonia halei Graphis haleana Hypotrachyna mason-halei Melanohalea halei Phyllopsora halei Physcia halei Pseudocyphellaria halei Thelotrema halei Usnea halei Xanthoparmelia halei

The following are a partial list of genera named after Mason Hale. The list focuses primarily on North American taxa: Halecania Halegrapha Haleomyces Masonhalea Melanohalea

The Hale Valley in Antarctica is named after him.

In 1993, the International Association for Lichenology instituted the Mason E. Hale Award to recognise research excellence in lichenologists based on their recently-awarded doctoral thesis or similar publication.