By Salem S. Hunter, Tristen J. Pasternak, Amanda M. Chandler
Oct 13 2022
Juan Larraín is a self-taught bryologist who focuses on bryophyte diversity in his home country of Chile. Upon completing a dissertation at Universidad de Concepción, Juan worked on a post-doctoral project at the Field Museum of Chicago, where he focused on the liverwort genus Frullania. He was also a critical member of the field work team for Bill Buck’s NSF-funded project meant to catalogue known bryophytes of Cape Horn (Buck 2011-2013).
Though he specializes in southern South American mosses such as Racomitrium, his research extends beyond this specialized point, as exemplified by his recent publications depicting (respectively) liverworts newly discovered to the Peruvian Andes and bryophytes of Parque Nacional La Campana. Juan plays a vital role in the current discovery of new species and increased understanding of poorly understood taxonomic groups in a global region supporting high levels of endemism and few cryptogamic botanists.