Theodore Lee Esslinger

Theodore Lee ("Ted") Esslinger (born 1944) is an American lichenologist and former professor of botany. He is best known for his systematic work on the brown lichens and for developing online resources for lichen taxonomy.

Career

Esslinger studied at Eastern Washington University, the University of Idaho, and Duke University, where he completed his PhD in 1975 under William and Chicita Culberson. His dissertation, titled A Chemosystematic Revision of the Brown Parmeliae, focused on the chemical and morphological variation within the group. After a postdoctoral year at the Smithsonian Institution with Mason Hale, he joined the faculty at North Dakota State University (NDSU) in Fargo, where he has taught botany since 1975.