Emma Lucy Braun (April 19, 1889 – March 5, 1971)

Why not save a piece of your native country, your native state, in its original condition as a monument to the original beauty and grandeur of your forests, just as you save an historical shrine?

Emma Lucy Braun was a leader and pioneer in the field of plant ecology. Braun fought to preserve remnants of old-growth Eastern deciduous forest which were being threatened by industry. Although some of the forests were lost, her efforts resulted in over 10,000 acres of land protection in Ohio and the establishment of a land trust known as the Dr. Lucy Braun Memorial Fund, which continues to add land to her initial preservation effort to this day. She received a Ph.D. in plant ecology from the University of Cincinnati and subsequently became a professor at her alma mater. During her tenure she directed 14 graduate students, including nine women, which was unusual for a female professor in those times. Braun amassed nearly 12,000 plant specimens during her research career, a collection that now resides at the Smithsonian Institution. She authored over 180 articles in 20 different scientific journals. Her most definitive work, Deciduous Forests of Eastern North America (1950), describes the plants of Eastern deciduous forests and is still widely used as a reference. The book was based on 25 years of extensive field research conducted with her sister, Annette Frances Braun, who held a Ph.D. in entomology. The siblings covered over 65,000 miles by car and foot throughout the Appalachian region, taking detailed notes and photographs of the local flora. Braun served as the first female President of the Ecological Society of America and was the first woman inducted into the Ohio Conservation Hall of Fame. 

Credit: This plaque was created by SUTL Cohort 31.