Harold Timans

Harold Timans took an early interest in nearly anything that flies or crawls when he was a kid. He exchanged his focus to growing things in his teens and began to look ever closer to vegetations. Lichens have taken a special place in his heart due to their enigmatic symbiotic lifestyles and remarkable appearance. His interest for lichens goed toe to toe with his love for plants, especially the ‘ghostly’ ones: mycoheterotroph’s that feed on fungi.

Harold works as guest researcher for Naturalis, studying all vegetation aspects. Thus far he has described one new lichen species for science and published on urban lichen ecology in Amsterdam. He also works on science communication and has written newspaper articles and a book about lichens for a wider audience. He studies biology and science communication at Leiden University and gives nature excursions for Dagjeindenatuur. He currently focuses on innovating living moss walls at Respyre, a sustainable start-up company. He tries to validate plant and lichen observations for Waarneming.nl (Observation.org) whenever he can. Harold observed most lichen and plant species in The Netherlands. Saba 2026 will be his first international expedition, focussing on lichen and plants.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/harold_timans/

LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harold-timans-b116a5254/
Email: Harold.timans@naturalis.nl

Harold will be on Saba from February 26-March 12, 2026. We will be updating our calendar with activity dates and times as we continue to coordinate our event. Stay tuned!