Nationality American Name Henry Cowles Role Botanist | Spouse Elizabeth Waller | |
 | ||
Alma mater University of ChicagoOberlin College Died September 12, 1939, Chicago, Illinois, United States Doctoral students | ||
Calumet Revisited -- Victor Cassidy on Henry Chandler Cowles 050316 1920 x 1080
Henry Chandler Cowles (February 27, 1869 – September 12, 1939) was an American botanist and ecological pioneer (see History of ecology). A professor at the University of Chicago, he studied ecological succession in the Indiana Dunes of Northwest Indiana. This led to efforts to preserve the Indiana Dunes. One of Cowles' students, O. D. Frank continued his research.
Contents
- Calumet Revisited Victor Cassidy on Henry Chandler Cowles 050316 1920 x 1080
- Invasive Species in a Globalized World
- Life and work
- Legacy
- Works
- References
Invasive Species in a Globalized World
Life and work
Born in Kensington, Connecticut, Cowles attended Oberlin College in Ohio. He studied at the University of Chicago with the plant taxonomist John M. Coulter and the geologist Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin as main teachers. He obtained his Ph.D. in 1898 for his study of vegetation succession on the Lake Michigan sand dunes. The inspiration to these studies came from reading Plantesamfund by the Danish botanist and pioneer ecologist Eugen Warming. The translation of Warming's term into English as "Oecology" led to Cowles becoming one of the primary popularizers of the term ecology in the United States. Cowles studied Danish to be able to read the original and later (1905) visited Warming in Copenhagen. Cowles was one of the founding members of the Ecological Society of America.
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 and nearby dune locations were later preserved for the public as part of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Cowles Bog is located off Shore Drive in Dune Acres, Indiana.
Among Cowles's students who advanced American ecology were Victor E. Shelford, William Skinner Cooper, Paul B. Sears, George Damon Fuller, Walter P. Cottam, Arthur G. Vestal and May Theilgaard Watts. Cowles also served as a special field assistant of the United States Geological Survey.
Works
His publications include: