Steven B. Selva (born 1948) is Professor Emeritus of Biology and Environmental Studies at the University of Maine at Fort Kent, a world-renowned lichenologist, and curator of UMFK's lichen herbarium. Selva is an expert on stubble lichens of the order Caliciales, called so because their millimeter-high stalks resemble beard stubble. Academic career Selva attended Humboldt State University in Arcata, California, earning bachelor's degrees in biology and botany. He continued his education at Iowa State University in Ames where he earned his PhD in botany. His dissertation focused on establishing biostratigraphic units based on freshwater diatoms preserved in the soil of the Ogallala Aquifer. During the course of his research, Selva discovered seven new species of diatoms. In 1976, Selva began his teaching career at the University of Maine at Fort Kent where he teaches courses in environmental studies, dendrology, general botany, plant taxonomy, plant physiology, and lichenology. In 1983, Selva spent seven months in Ottawa studying the lichens of Aroostook County, Maine (where UMFK is located) with Irwin Murray Brodo. Though the University of Maine at Fort Kent does not require research as a condition of employment, Selva actively pursues many ongoing lichen research programs, receiving grants from organizations such as the Appalachian Mountain Club, The Nature Conservancy, the New Brunswick Museum, the National Geographic Society, and the Northeastern Forest Experiment Station. The focus of his lichenological research centers on the use of stubble lichens as environmental indicators, both in reference to the age of a forest and its level of pollution. Selva retired in 2013 and was elected Professor Emeritus by the UMFK faculty following his retirement. He continues to work with the lichen herbarium on the UMFK campus. Lichen herbarium Housed in Cyr Hall of the University of Maine at Fort Kent's campus, Selva's lichen herbarium is one of the largest in the world. It contains around 60,000 specimens of multiple varieties of lichens, including the largest collection of stubble lichens in North America as well as the largest collection of old growth forest lichens in the northeastern United States. Beginning in 2001, Selva and colleague/former student Ray Albert began uploading the contents of the lichen herbarium online at the University of Maine at Fort Kent's Lichen Research Program. The database contains specific information on the collection location, habitat information, and the substrate or base on which the lichens were found. Eventually Selva and Albert hope to include