Hale was one of the first lichen experts to incorporate secondary chemistry and technology such as computers and scanning electron microscopy into taxonomic work.
[1] Mason Hale published approximately two hundred articles and books on various aspects of lichen biology including taxonomy, anatomy, chemistry, and ecology.
[1][2] Hale earned his Master's and Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin–Madison under the supervision of prominent lichenologist John W. Thomson, an arctic lichen expert.
[1] For his master's degree, Hale studied the lichen flora of the Baffin Islands, located in northeastern Canada.
[1] Hale also befriended William Culberson, a fellow graduate student, and later a lichen expert at Duke University.
Hale made numerous expeditions to tropical regions including the Caribbean, Central and South America, Asia, and Africa.
[1] Mason Hale was primarily a taxonomist, but his taxonomic framework and methodology for describing new species was dependent on modern technology.
The techniques that he utilized included spot tests, early thin layer chromatography, and fluorescence (turning of color with UV light).
[8] In addition to chemistry, Hale also incorporated scanning electron microscopy characteristics such as cortical structure into his species concepts.
[7] Another technical advance Hale utilized was punch card computers to keep track of morphological and ecological data.
[7] The first time required reviewing type specimens and collected material to examine subgeneric concepts and synonyms.
The second and third revisions broke the subgenera into more specific genera based on differences in chemistry and morphological characteristics using scanning electron microscopy.
[15][16] Hale also wrote or co-authored books that helped to introduce lichens to the general public and keep scientists abreast of current theory.
[22] According to Google Scholar, Mason Hale wrote approximately 200 peer-reviewed journal articles and has been cited over 4,800 times.
In 1993, the International Association for Lichenology instituted the Mason E. Hale Award to recognise research excellence in lichenologists based on their recently-awarded doctoral thesis or similar publication.