Ada Hayden (14 August 1884 – 12 August 1950) was an American
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 ...
, educator, and preservationist. She was the curator of the Iowa State University Herbarium, which was renamed the Ada Hayden Herbarium (ISC) in her honour in 1988.
During her career, she added more than 40,000 specimens to the
herbarium
A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study.
The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (calle ...
.
Her studies and conservation work were particularly important in ensuring the preservation of the tallgrass prairie.
The
Hayden Prairie State Preserve, the first area dedicated as a preserve under Iowa's State Preserves Act of 1965, is named in her honor.
Childhood and education
Ada Hayden was born 14 August 1884 near Ames, Iowa
Ames () is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States, located approximately north of Des Moines in central Iowa. It is best known as the home of Iowa State University (ISU), with leading agriculture, design, engineering, and veterinary me ...
to Maitland David Hayden and Christine Hayden. While still in high school, Louis Hermann Pammel became her mentor. She earned a bachelor's degree from Iowa State College in 1908, studying botany, a master's degree from Washington University in St. Louis in 1910, and a Ph.D. from Iowa State in 1918. She was the first woman and fourth person to receive a doctorate from Iowa State College.
Career
Hayden taught botany as an instructor at Iowa State beginning in 1911, and continued in this role until she earned her doctoral degree. She became an assistant professor of botany in 1920, and a research assistant professor at the Agricultural Experimental Station (Lakes Region) and curator of the herbarium in 1934. She worked closely with Louis Pammel and Charlotte King
Dr. Charlotte King is a fictional character from the ABC medical drama '' Private Practice'', portrayed by KaDee Strickland. Initially, Charlotte is the Chief of Staff at the fictional St. Ambrose Hospital in Santa Monica. She tends to have an a ...
, contributing to ''The Weed Flora of Iowa'' (1926) and ''Honey Plants of Iowa'' (1930).[
She concentrated on prairie plants of the lakes region, and is credited with "possibly the best published native flora survey… of any part of Iowa". She was an early advocate of prairie preservation, writing and speaking in its support. In 1944, she and J. M. Aikman released a report identifying possible areas of preservable prairie in Iowa and Hayden became director of the "Prairie Project". She systematically developed a database of information relevant for decisions about land acquisition, working with the State Conservation Commission (SCC) to purchase areas of relict prairie.][
She was an active member 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 ...
for many years.
Ada Hayden died of cancer in 1950, at age 65.[She was succeeded as herbarium curator by Richard Walter Pohl. ]
References
External links
*
Ada Hayden Papers
a
Iowa State University Library
"Botanist, Basketball Player, and Budding Conservationist: Ada Hayden's Student Years at Iowa State"
Ada Hayden Digital Collection
a
Iowa State University Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayden, Ada
American ecologists
Women ecologists
1884 births
1950 deaths
American women botanists
Scientists from Iowa
Washington University in St. Louis alumni
Deaths from cancer in Iowa
20th-century American botanists
20th-century American women scientists
American women curators
American curators