Henry Chandler Cowles was born on 27 February 1869 on a small farm in Connecticut, USA. He was the oldest son of Henry Martyn Cowles (a farmer and market gardener) and Eliza Whittlesey (a Sunday school teacher and daughter of a Cleveland judge). On 27 March 1888 Cowles graduated from New Britain High School and after saving money went on to Oberlin College in 1890 to study biology. At college, he developed a passion for analytical chemistry. His botany professor – Albert Allen Wright – urged Cowles to continue his research and study at the University of Chicago. While at the University of Chicago, Cowles taught classes on physiographic ecology, ecological anatomy, geographical botany, experimental ecology, applied ecology, and field ecology between 1897 and 1934.
In 1898, Cowles obtained his Ph.D. for his paper on “The Ecological Relations of the Vegetation on the Sand Dunes of Lake Michigan”. His thesis paper was based on plant ecological succession at the Lake Michigan sand dunes. Researcher John Merle Coulter introduced Cowles to ecology (which was a recently emerging field). After this period, Cowles worked primarily in the field of ecology studying plant communities, causes of vegetative cycles, and relationships between vegetation and rock compositions. Later in his life, Cowles founded the Association of American Geographers. In 1915, he founded the Ecological Society of America. He continued to spend the remainder of his life in conservation of ecologically important lands. In addition, he worked with the state to purchase ecologically important lands for parks. Cowles died in 1939.
References:
Cassidy, V. M. (2007). Henry Chandler Cowles: Pioneer Ecologist. Chicago: Kedzie Sigel Press.
Applied Plant Ecology Winter 2020 