In 1965, Brodo was hired by the National Museum of Canada (now the Canadian Museum of Nature), where he continues to work as a research scientist emeritus. Over his career, he has built the lichen collection (CANL) into one of the best in North America.[2] His research includes in-depth studies on challenging genera such as Bryoria, Lecanora, and Ochrolechia. His 1968 work on the lichens of Long Island and the effects of air pollutants was pioneering in the field.[2]
In 1970, Brodo started to edit the exsiccata series Lichenes Canadenses exsiccati.[4]
Brodo's list of publications includes approximately 100 scientific articles, 8 popular articles, 22 reviews and 6 editorials and obituaries. One of his great achievements was the publication in 2001 of the 795 page book, Lichens of North America with high-quality photographs of lichens taken by Sylvia Sharnoff and Stephen Sharnoff. It won the 2002 National Outdoor Book Award (Nature Guidebook).[5] In 2016, the trio, with additional collaborator Susan Laurie-Bourque, produced Keys to Lichens of North America: Revised and Expanded. More recently, Brodo has published Keys to Lichens of North America, a spiral-bound workbook of over 400 pages including keys to 2045 species.[2]
Brodo has received numerous honors throughout his career. In 1994, he was honored with an Acharius Medal presented to him by the International Association for Lichenology.[3] In 1993, Brodo was awarded the Mary E. Elliot Service Award for his meritorious service to the Canadian Botanical Association[7] — and in 2003, for lifetime achievement, the association's George Lawson Medal.[8] In 2013, Brodo was presented with an honorary doctorate from Carleton University, "in recognition of his distinguished career in lichenology and scientific leadership in the international biosystematics community".[6]
^"Award for Irwin Brodo"(PDF). International Lichenological Newsletter. 27 (1): 13–14. 1994. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2021-07-19. Retrieved 2022-04-28.
^Ekman, Stefan; Tønsberg, Tor; Tonsberg, Tor (1996). "A new species of Megalaria from the North American west coast, and notes on the generic circumscription". The Bryologist. 99 (1): 34–40. doi:10.2307/3244435.
^Nash, T. H. III; Ryan, B. D.; Diederich, P.; Gries, C.; Bungartz, F. (2004). Lichen flora of the greater Sonoran Desert region. Vol. 2. Lichens Unlimited. p. 290. ISBN978-0-9716759-1-9.
^Kukwa, Martin (2011). The lichen genus Ochrolechia in Europe. Gdańsk: Fundacja Rozwoju Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego. p. 100. ISBN978-8375311709.
^Lendemer, J.C.; Tønsberg, T. (2014). "Lepraria brodoi (Stereocaulaceae, Lichenized Ascomycetes), a new species from the temperate rainforests of western Canada and southeastern Alaska, U.S.A.". Opuscula Philolichenum. 13: 20–25.
^Lendemer, James C.; Tripp, Erin A.; Sheard, John (2014). "A review of Rinodina(Physciaceae) in Great Smoky Mountains National Park highlights the growing significance of this "island of biodiversity" in eastern North America". The Bryologist. 117 (3): 259–281. doi:10.1639/0007-2745-117.3.259.
^Knudsen, Kerry; Kocourková, Jana; Westberg, Martin; Wheeler, Tim (2016). "Two new species of Acarosporaceae from North America with carbonized epihymenial accretions". The Lichenologist. 48 (5): 347–354. doi:10.1017/s0024282916000256.
^Esslinger, T.L. (2016). "Alectoria in Mexico". In Herrera-Campos, Maria; Pérez-Pérez, Rosa Emilia; Nash, Thomas H. III (eds.). Lichens of Mexico. The Parmeliaceae – Keys, distribution and specimen descriptions. Bibliotheca Lichenologica. Vol. 110. Stuttgart: J. Cramer. pp. 69–80. ISBN978-3-443-58089-6.
^Lendemer, James C.; Buck, William R.; Harris, Richard C. (2016). "Two new host-specific hepaticolous species of Catinaria (Ramalinaceae)". The Lichenologist. 48 (5): 441–449. doi:10.1017/s0024282916000438.