Noris Salazar Allen

Noris Salazar Allen (born 1947) is a Panamanian bryologist who is Professor of Botany at the University of Panama and an associate researcher at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. She was the first Panamanian to research bryophytes, and was instrumental in expanding the University of Panama's bryological collection to 10,000 specimens. In 2013 she received the Riclef Grolle Award for Excellence in Bryodiversity Research from the International Association of Bryologists.

Biography Salazar Allen was born in 1947 in the town of San Francisco, which is on the outskirts of Panama City. She spent two years at the University of Panama before she graduated with a BA from Trinity Washington University in 1969. There she was inspired to learn more about bryophytes and their ecology. She subsequently was awarded a PhD from the University of Alberta in 1986. Specimens collected by Salazar are also part of the herbarium collection at New York Botanic Garden. DNA samples from other specimens collected by her are also held at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Subsequent research projects have included a revision of the liverwort genus Cyathodium at the suggestion of Hélène Bischler, and of the moss Octoblepharum. Her research also examines how climate crisis affects bryophyte communities. Liu, Jian‐Wei, et al. "Gigantic chloroplasts, including bizonoplasts, are common in shade‐adapted species of the ancient vascular plant family Selaginellaceae." American journal of botany 107.4 (2020): 562-576. Allen, Noris Salazar, and José A. Gudiño. "Octoblepharumperistomiruptum (Octoblepharaceae) a new species from the Neotropics." PhytoKeys 164 (2020): 1. Mežaka, Anna, et al. "Life on a leaf: The development of spatial structure in epiphyll communities." Journal of Ecology 110.3 (2022): 619-630. Allen, Noris Salazar, et al. "Bryophytes of mangroves of Bocas del Toro, Panama." Bryophyte Diversity and Evolution'' 45.1 (2022): 133-150.