Students of Professor Steven Frankel’s Ecology 305 class braved 20-degree weather, snow and icy conditions in the nearby LaBagh Woods forest preserve on Jan. 21, to get some first-hand experience in the field. The class observed the site and recorded characteristics such as animal trails, visible vegetation and fungi occurrence. Students then gathered sampling data about the indigenous lichen species present on trees in the LaBagh Woods flood plains. Lichens are symbiotic composite organisms comprised of a fungus and either algae or cyanobacteria, and are an important species for scientists trying to measure the effects of forest fragmentation, air pollution, and other forms of environmental degradation.