Henry Chandler Cowles | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1869-02-27)February 27, 1869 |
| Died | September 12, 1939(1939-09-12) (aged 70) |
| Alma mater | University of Chicago Oberlin College |
| Known for | Ecological succession |
| Spouse | Elizabeth Waller[1] |
| Children | Harriet[1] |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Botany |
| Institutions | University of Chicago |
| Thesis | The Ecological Relations of the Vegetation on the Sand Dunes of Lake Michigan (1898) |
| Doctoral advisor | John Merle Coulter |
| Doctoral students | Victor Ernest Shelford William Skinner Cooper Paul Sears |
Henry Chandler Cowles (February 27, 1869 – September 12, 1939) was anAmericanbotanist andecological pioneer. A professor at theUniversity of Chicago,[2] he studiedecological succession in theIndiana Dunes of Northwest Indiana.[3][4] This led to efforts to preserve the Indiana Dunes.[3][5] One of Cowles' students, O. D. Frank continued his research.[6]
Born inKensington,Connecticut, Cowles attendedOberlin College inOhio. He studied at theUniversity of Chicago with the plant taxonomistJohn M. Coulter and the geologistThomas Chrowder Chamberlin as main teachers. He obtained hisPhD in 1898 for his study of vegetationsuccession on theLake Michigan sand dunes. The inspiration to these studies came from readingPlantesamfund by the Danish botanist and pioneer ecologistEugen Warming.[7][8] Cowles studied Danish to be able to read the original[9] and later (1905) visited Warming inCopenhagen. The translation of Warming's term into English as "Oecology" led to Cowles becoming one of the primary popularizers of the termecology in the United States. Cowles was one of the founding members of theEcological Society of America in 1915.[10]
Cowles married Elizabeth Waller in 1900, and their daughter Harriet was born in 1912.[1]
One of Cowles's field study locations is now namedCowles Bog in his honor;Cowles Bog and nearby dune locations were later preserved for the public as part of theIndiana Dunes National Lakeshore (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 wereVictor E. Shelford,William Skinner Cooper,Paul B. Sears,George Damon Fuller,Walter P. Cottam,Arthur G. Vestal andMay Theilgaard Watts.[11] Cowles also served as a special field assistant of theUnited States Geological Survey.
His publications include:
