Flora Wambaugh Patterson - USDA Mycologist

Flora Waumbaugh Patterson (1847 - 1928) was the first woman hired at the USDA as a mycologist (someone who studies fungi.) While I was reading about the Cherry Blossom Festival for a post on my women's history blog, I ran across Flora Patterson's name. When the first shipment of Cherry trees arrived from Japan, it was discovered that they were infested with insects and diseases and had to be destroyed to protect native species. Identifying new pathogens was part of Patterson's responsibilities at the USDA.

Patterson had studied fungi as a hobby when she was young, but she came to her career as a scientist relatively late. She graduated from Antioch college in 1865, but married at 22 and had two sons. When her husband was disabled and couldn't work, she had to become the breadwinner of the family.

After her husband died, Flora began to study biology at the state University of Iowa. She made plans to continue her studies at Yale, but was rejected because they didn't admit women. Instead she enrolled at Radcliffe and worked at the Gray Herbarium at Harvard. In 1895, she was hired at the USDA where she worked until her retirement at the age of 75. 

While working at the USDA, she increased their fungi collections approximately six fold and identified many new species. She was instrumental in identifying the chestnut blight that decimated the chestnut forests in the eastern United States.

Although I did find references to Flora as the first plant pathologist at the USDA, the American Phytopathological Society website names Effie Southworth as the first woman Plant Pathologist hired at the USDA (1887) and Flora as the first woman Mycologist(1896.)

Women Role Models in STEM

Only 20% of bachelor degree in STEM are held by women. Why aren't women entering the science fields? Some say it's because there aren't enough role models for girls. The people at OnlineUniversities.com don't believe that. They have posted a list of 25 fabulous women involved in STEM fields.

The list includes astronauts, professors, a fighter pilot, a college president, physicists, electronic game creators, a co-founder of Flickr, a co-founder of iRobot, astronomers, etc. Some of the women were familiar to me, but most were not I'm sad to say. Check out the list and see who you know. But more importantly, pass it on to girls and young women you know who might be interested in the sciences. You never know who you might inspire.

25 Female STEM Superheroes of Today

Women in Science and Mathematics

I have an unfortunate habit of becoming distracted by the latest thing that catches my interest. Unfortunately, I began this blog during one of those times and I have failed to keep up with it. One reason, is that the arguments around evolution, climate change, and religion become very tiring. This is a reason for another post, another time, but suffice it to say that as a person who believes in God I have no problem reconciling that belief with science. In fact, the arguments against science seem irrational enough for me to have trouble taking them seriously. So, from time to time it gets my ire up, but lately it's just tiring.

The second reason that this blog has languished is that around the same time I began a blog about women in history - Saints, Sisters, and Sluts. This combined several of my interests - math, science, and history. I have written about women mathematicians and scientists, but also about religious figures in history. Lately, a friend who has spent years researching the history of Great Britain has begun writing about queens of England. This has attracted more attention than I would ever have gotten writing about women in mathematics and science - go figure! But needless to say my attention has been devoted to that blog lately.

However, for the few who may stumble upon this blog and are also interested in women's history in math and science, I invite you to join us on the other blog. Here is a list of the women I've written about so far with links to those posts. You might also find other interesting things on the blog.

Maria Gaetana Agnesi - 18th Century Mathematician

Sonya Kovalevsky - A Marriage of Convenience

 Madame Curie (This is the link to the first of two posts about Maria Curie.)

 Emilie du Chatelet - "femme savant" and paramour

Laura Bassi - Italian Physicist (1711 - 1778)

Mary Fairfax Somerville - Mathematics by Candlelight

Check it out, especially if you also like Queens of England!