Brian John Coppins (born 1949) is a botanist and lichenologist, considered a world authority on crustose lichens[2] and a leading expert on the genus Micarea.
[3] Coppins' interest in lichens was sparked during a field trip to the Scottish island of Handa while studying at Tunbridge Wells Technical School for Boys.
[4] While still an undergraduate at the University of Hull, Coppins was the co-author, with D. W. Shimwell, of an important study of lichen dynamics in managed heathland.
[7] His field research has been mostly in Scotland but he has also collected lichens in "Borneo, Chile, the Carpathians, Thailand, USA, Norway and Canada".
[8] His co-collectors include Ursula Katherine Duncan, David John Galloway, Peter W. James, and Francis Rose.