A researcher at UC Riverside has named a newly discovered species of lichen after President Obama. Dubbed 'Caloplaca obamae,' the orange-colored lichen is actually a cross between a fungus and an algae. The discoverer, Kerry Knudsen, collected the final samples of the lichen during the last weeks of the Obama campaign and he finished the paper announcing the discovery on Inauguration Day. According to scientific protocol, it's up to the person who discovers a new species to name it. Wonder if he had to get the President's permission. I suppose it could have been worse - he could have found a slime mold, instead.