Henry Cowles was a botanist and an ecological pioneer, and he was one of the most influenced educators in the study of plant communities. He was born in 1869 and developed an interest in plants at a very young age. He studied botany and geology; he went on to study ecology!
He dealt with vegetation of sand dunes along the shores of Lake Michigan, he also recorded changes in vegetation, starting with hardy plants growing a unstable dune. He described the growth of deciduous forest growing on ancient dunes as a process of plant succession.
By 1898, Henry had gotten his Ph.D and he had joined the faculty of the botany department at the University of Chicago and he spent the rest of his time there.
His earlier research on Lake Muchigan dunes served as a model for student who wanted to study the relations of plants and animals, many of his students became ecologists in their own way due to him. He was an inspiration to many and a lot of his students such as William S. Cooper and Arthur Vestal were known to help him founding the Ecological Society of America in 1915.
Henry passed away in September of 1939 and he was honored at the Indiana Dunes National Lakesore (National Park) where theres a field study location named “Cowles Bog”.
Hagen, Joel. 2020. “Henry Chandler Cowles.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. February 23, 2020. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-Chandler-Cowles.
Applied Plant Ecology Winter 2020 