- Elsie Quarterman
Elsie Quarterman is a prominent plant ecologist. She is a Professor Emerita at
Vanderbilt University .Quarterman completed her Ph.D. at
Duke University in 1949 withHenry J. Oosting . During her graduate work and afterward, she also collaborated extensively withCatherine Keever .Quarterman is best known for her work on the ecology of
Tennessee cedar glades. These herb-dominated plant communities on the shallow soils oflimestone outcrops are globally rare habitats and contain manyendemic plant species. She is also credited with rediscovering the native Tennessee coneflower, "Echinacea tennesseensis ", which was thought to be extinct, in 1969 [ [http://www.herbsociety.org/confaw02.php 2002 Educational Conference - Award Winners ] ] [ [http://media.www.mtsusidelines.com/media/storage/paper202/news/2003/01/09/News/Endangered.Species.Resurfaces.Within.City-343679.shtml Endangered species resurfaces within city - News ] ] . The species is now considered federally endangered.She supervised seven doctoral students, including Stewart Ware, a plant ecologist at the
College of William and Mary , andCarol C. Baskin and Jerry M. Baskin , professors at theUniversity of Kentucky [cite journal|last=Langenheim |first=Jean H.|year=1996 |title=Early history and progress of women ecologists: Emphasis upon research contributions|journal=Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics|volume=27|pages=1-53] . Throughout her career, Quarterman has also been active in conservation.Honors
Quarterman became the first woman Department Chair at Vanderbilt when she chaired the Biology Department in 1964 [ [http://www.library.vanderbilt.edu/speccol/vrr/women1sts.shtml Special Collections: Virtual Reading Room: Women "Firsts" at Vanderbilt ] ] . The Tennessee Academy of Science honored Quarterman with the 2003 Distinguished College/University Scientist Award [ [http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-4178427/Distinguished-College-University-Scientist-Award.html Distinguished College/University Scientist Award. Industry & Business Article - Research, News, Information, Contacts, Divisions, Subsidiaries, Business Associations ] ] . The Southeastern Chapter of the
Ecological Society of America gives an annual Quarterman-Keever Award to the best student poster in ecology. The Elsie Quarterman Cedar Glade, a 185-acre natural area that is part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Percy Priest Reservoir and Wildlife Management Area near La Vergne, Tennesse, is named in her honor [ [http://www.state.tn.us/environment/na/natareas/elsie/ TDEC: DNH: Elsie Quarterman State Natural Area ] ] . In 2008, an annual spring wildflower event atCedars of Lebanon State Park , celebrated annually for over 30 years, was renamed the Elsie Quarterman Wildflower Weekend [ [http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080411/COUNTY10/804110406/-1/ARCHIVE01 Wildflower Weekend honors Quarterman | www.tennessean.com | The Tennessean ] ] .elected works
Quarterman, Elsie. 1950. Major plant communities of Tennessee cedar glades. Ecology 31: 234–254.
Quarterman, Elsie. 1957. Early Plant Succession on Abandoned Cropland in the Central Basin of Tennessee. Ecology 38: 300-309.
Quarterman, Elsie, and Catherine Keever. 1962. Southern mixed hardwood forest: climax in the southeastern Coastal Plain. Ecological Monographs 32: 167–185.
Quarterman, Elsie, Barbara Holman Turner, and Thomas E. Hemmerly. 1972. Analysis of virgin mixed mesophytic forests in Savage Gulf, Tennessee. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 99: 228-232.
References
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