Elizabeth Gault Fisher (April 29, 1909 – ) was an American

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

bacteriologist A bacteriologist is a microbiologist, or similarly trained professional, in bacteriology -- a subdivision of microbiology that studies bacteria, typically Pathogenic bacteria, pathogenic ones. Bacteriologists are interested in studying and learnin ...

, and bryologist. She collected thousands of examples of Maryland mosses, including the first examples of a number of species in Maryland. A moss, '' Desmatodon fisherae'', and an insect, '' Mycetophila fisherae'', were named for her.

Early life

Elizabeth Gault Fisher was born on April 29, 1909, in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. She was the daughter of Anne (née Baylor) and Dr. William A. Fisher, health commissioner of Baltimore. She attended the

Calvert School Calvert School, founded in 1897, is an Independent school, independent, non-sectarian, co-educational lower and middle school located in Baltimore, Maryland. Calvert School is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) ...

St. Timothy's School St. Timothy's School is a four-year private all-girls boarding high school in Stevenson, Maryland. History The school was founded as a school for girls by Sarah Randolph Carter in Catonsville, Maryland in 1882. In 1952, the school moved to Steve ...

, graduating in 1927, and

Roland Park Country School Roland Park Country School (RPCS) is an independent all-girls college preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It serves girls from kindergarten through grade 12. It is located on Roland Avenue in the northern area of Baltimore ...

, graduating in 1930. She studied at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

beginning in 1930, and graduating with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in 1934, a master's degree and a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

in entomology in 1938. Her dissertation was ''A Comparative Study of the Male Terminalia of the

Mycetophilidae The Mycetophilidae are a family of small flies, forming the bulk of those species known as fungus gnats. About 3000 described species are placed in 150 genera, but the true number of species is undoubtedly much higher. They are generally found ...

Nearctic The Nearctic realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting the Earth's land surface. The Nearctic realm covers most of North America, including Greenland, Central Florida, and the highlands of Mexico. The parts of North America t ...

America.''

Career

In 1939, Fisher went to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

to research moss. Fisher became a Research Associate in the Department of Insects at the

Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, formerly the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, is the oldest natural science research institution and museum in the Americas. It was founded in 1812, by many of the leading natura ...

. As an entomologist, her specialty was glowworm flies and wrote papers describing numerous insect species, including the Appalachian glowworm fly ('' Orfelia fultoni''). In 1942, she joined the Harriet Lane Clinic at

Johns Hopkins Hospital The Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, located in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. It was founded in 1889 using money from a bequest of over $7 million (1873 mo ...

as a biomedical research analyst in bacteriology. After working for Johns Hopkins for three years, she left and bought a farm in

Sykesville, Maryland Sykesville is a small town in Carroll County, Maryland, United States. The town lies west of Baltimore and north of Washington D.C. The population was 4,436 at the 2010 census. BudgetTravel.com named Sykesville 'Coolest Small Town in America' ...

, where she further pursued her interests in moss and entomology. Fisher began collecting mosses and

liverworts The Marchantiophyta () are a division of non-vascular land plants commonly referred to as hepatics or liverworts. Like mosses and hornworts, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in which cells of the plant carry only a single set of ge ...

in the early 1950s and continued until the early 1980s, amassing over 3,500 samples. She was the first to collect a number of species in Maryland, including '' Polytrichum strictum, Gymnostomum aeruginosum,

Brachythecium velutinum ''Brachythecium'' is a genus of mosses belonging to the family Brachytheciaceae. The genus was first described by Wilhelm Philippe Schimper. Species The following species are recognised in the genus ''Brachythecium'': * '' Brachythecium albica ...

, Trematodon longicollis, Pohlia annotina, Ephemerum spinulosum, Funaria americana,'' and '' Pottia truncata.'' On forays with the Brooks Bird Club, she collected ''Desmatodon fisherae'' in Virginia in 1965 and '' Splachnum ampullaceum'' in West Virginia in 1968, extending the known southern range of the latter. She was a member of the

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who be ...

, Wilderness Society and Cylburn Society.

Personal life

She also painted, hiked, and made pottery.

Death

Elizabeth Gault Fisher died on January 1, 2000, at Carroll County General Hospital in

Westminster, Maryland Westminster is a city in northern Maryland, United States. It is the seat of Carroll County. The city's population was 18,590 at the 2010 census. Westminster is an outlying community within the Baltimore-Towson, MD MSA, which is part of a greate ...

. She was buried at

Green Mount Cemetery Green Mount Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Established on March 15, 1838, and dedicated on July 13, 1839, it is noted for the large number of historical figures interred in its grounds as well as many ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fisher, Elizabeth Gault Created via preloaddraft 1909 births 2000 deaths Scientists from Baltimore Drexel University people Johns Hopkins University people Cornell University alumni American entomologists Women entomologists American bacteriologists Bryologists Women bryologists