Henry C Cowles in the Santa Catalina Mountains Arizona 1913

Henry Chandler Cowles (February 27, 1869 – September 12, 1939) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

and

ecological Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

pioneer (see

History of ecology Ecology is a new science and considered as an important branch of biological science, having only become prominent during the second half of the 20th century. Ecological thought is derivative of established currents in philosophy, particularly f ...

). A professor at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, he studied

ecological succession Ecological succession is the process of change in the species structure of an ecological community over time. The time scale can be decades (for example, after a wildfire) or more or less. Bacteria allows for the cycling of nutrients such as ca ...

in the

Indiana Dunes Indiana Dunes National Park is a United States national park located in northwestern Indiana managed by the National Park Service. It was authorized by Congress in 1966 as the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and was redesignated as the nation ...

of Northwest Indiana.Smith, S. & Mark, S. (2009)
The Historical Roots of the Nature Conservancy in the Northwest Indiana/Chicagoland Region: From Science to Preservation
. The South Shore Journal, 3. This led to efforts to preserve the Indiana Dunes. One of Cowles' students, O. D. Frank continued his research.

Life and work

Born in

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

, Cowles attended

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. He studied at the

with the plant taxonomist

John M. Coulter John Merle Coulter, Ph. D. (November 20, 1851 – December 23, 1928) was an American botanist and educator. In his career in education administration, Coulter is notable for serving as the president of Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana Univ ...

and the geologist

Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin (; September 25, 1843 – November 15, 1928) was an American geologist and educator. In 1893 he founded the ''Journal of Geology'', of which he was editor for many years. Biography Chamberlin was born September 25, 184 ...

as main teachers. He obtained his

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

in 1898 for his study of vegetation

succession Succession is the act or process of following in order or sequence. Governance and politics *Order of succession, in politics, the ascension to power by one ruler, official, or monarch after the death, resignation, or removal from office of ...

on the

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...

sand dunes. The inspiration to these studies came from reading ''

Plantesamfund ''Plantesamfund - Grundtræk af den økologiske Plantegeografi'', published in Danish in 1895 by Eugen Warming, and in English in 1909 as ''Oecology of Plants: An Introduction to the Study of Plant Communities'', by Warming and Martin Vahl, was the ...

'' by the Danish botanist and pioneer ecologist

Eugen Warming Eugen is a masculine given name which may refer to: * Archduke Eugen of Austria (1863–1954), last Habsburg Grandmaster of the Teutonic Order from 1894 to 1923 * Prince Eugen, Duke of Närke (1865–1947), Swedish painter, art collector, and pat ...

. Cowles studied Danish to be able to read the original and later (1905) visited Warming in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. The translation of Warming's term into English as "Oecology" led to Cowles becoming one of the primary popularizers of the term

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

in the United States. Cowles was one of the founding members of the

Ecological Society of America The Ecological Society of America (ESA) is a professional organization of ecological scientists. Based in the United States and founded in 1915, ESA publications include peer-reviewed journals, newsletters, fact sheets, and teaching resources. I ...

in 1915. Cowles married Elizabeth Waller in 1900, and their daughter Harriet was born in 1912.

Legacy

One of Cowles's field study locations is now named ''Cowles Bog'' in his honor;

Cowles Bog Cowles Bog is a 4,000-year-old wetland complex in Indiana Dunes National Park, near Chesterton, Indiana. It is named for Henry Chandler Cowles who did his pioneering work in ecology and ecological succession here. His work brought international a ...

and nearby dune locations were later preserved for the public as part of the

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Indiana Dunes National Park is a United States national park located in northwestern Indiana managed by the National Park Service. It was authorized by Congress in 1966 as the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and was redesignated as the nation ...

(national park as of February 2019). Cowles Bog is located west of Mineral Springs Road in the Town of Dune Acres, Indiana. Among Cowles's students who advanced American ecology were

Victor E. Shelford Victor Ernest Shelford (September 22, 1877 – December 27, 1968) was an American zoologist and animal ecologist who helped to establish ecology as a distinct field of study. He was the first president of the Ecological Society of America in ...

William Skinner Cooper William Skinner Cooper (25 August 1884 – 8 October 1978) was an American ecologist. Cooper received his B.S. in 1906 from Alma College in Michigan. In 1909, he entered graduate school at the University of Chicago, where he studied with Henry Chan ...

, Paul B. Sears,

George Damon Fuller George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd President ...

, Walter P. Cottam, Arthur G. Vestal and

May Theilgaard Watts May Petrea Theilgaard Watts (1 May 1893 – 20 August 1975) was an American naturalist, writer, poet, illustrator, and educator. She was a naturalist at The Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois, and author of ''Reading the Landscape of America''. ...

. Cowles also served as a special field assistant of the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

Works

His publications include:
''Ecological Relations of the Vegetation on the Sand Dunes of Lake Michigan''
(1899)
''Text-Book of Botany'', Volume II: Ecology
(1910) (with

John Merle Coulter John Merle Coulter, Ph. D. (November 20, 1851 – December 23, 1928) was an American botanist and educator. In his career in education administration, Coulter is notable for serving as the president of Indiana University and Lake Forest College a ...

(Volume I, Part I: Morphology) and

Charles Reid Barnes Charles Reid Barnes (1858–1910) was an American botanist specializing in bryophytes ( mosses, liverworts and hornworts). He was co-editor of the '' Botanical Gazette'' for over 25 years. Barnes was born at Madison, Indiana, September 7, 1858. ...

(Volume I, Part II: Physiology)
''Plant Societies of Chicago and Vicinity''
(1901)

References

External links

Henry C. Cowles, University of Chicago.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowles, Henry Chandler American botanists American ecologists Ecological succession People from Kensington, Connecticut Oberlin College alumni University of Chicago alumni 1869 births 1939 deaths Presidents of the American Association of Geographers

Life and work

Legacy

Works

See also

References

External links