Category Archives: History

Dr. Elsie Quarterman, Champion of the Cedar Glades and Natural Areas –Brian Bowen

Thanks to Kim Sadler for sending this.

Brian Bowen, for Tennessee Conservationist Magazine, Sep-Oct 2014,
Remembering Dr. Elsie Quarterman, Champion of the Cedar Glades and Natural Areas,


300x258 George Fell Lifetime Achievement Award 2008, in Tennessee Conservationist, by Brian Bowen, for OkraParadiseFarms.com, 1 September 2014
Dr. Quarterman was a longtime member of the Natural Areas Association, the professional organization representing the interests of natural area professionals in the US. She received the NAA George Fell Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008 at the 35th Annual Natural Areas Conference in Nashville. In receiving the award, she humbly said that there “is no greater honor than to be recognized by my peers.” Her most significant legacy will be the thousands of acres of natural areas she helped to protect in Tennessee including the cedar glades and the once endangered Tennessee Coneflower.

(Tennessee Natural Areas Program Administrator Brian Bowen works in
the Department of Environment and Conservation in Nashville.)

There’s much more in the article.

-jsq

Elsie was more than a biology professor and ecologist –Jonathan Ertelt, Community



Saying what many students think: “Students of all ages are thankful
that her appreciation of the plant kingdom and the world around her
touched them and made their lives.”

Jonathan Ertelt, Vanderbilt Magazine, Summer 2014 issue,

Quarterman Was More Than a Biology Professor and Ecologist, Continue reading →

The whole ecosystem –Elsie Quarterman on Wild Side TV


300x184 People as well as plants and animals. Not just dogs youve got on a leash, but animals that live out there, are part of the whole ecosystem., in A Crusader for Conservation, by Wild Side TV, for OkraParadiseFarms.org, 19 September 2014
Here’s

a video about Elsie,

A Crusader for Conservation,
19 September 2014,
by Tennessee’s Wild Side, “The Emmy Award winning show produced through the generosity of the Jackson
Foundation, Tennessee State Parks, and the Tennessee Wildlife Federation.”
Lots of good pictures, some video snippets of Elsie, and some narration by her nephew Patrick and by Biologist Tom Hemmerly, who reminds us of Elsie’s work at Radner Lake, in addition to her cedar glades work.
Ranger Buddy Ingram explains her biggest contribution may have been
in getting numerous different segments of society to cooperate
in saving whole ecologies.
Botanist Kim Sadler and others explain how inspiring all that is to generations
of students.

As Elsie said in 2006:


300x168 The general public needs to know whats around them., in A Crusader for Conservation, by Wild Side TV, for OkraParadiseFarms.org, 19 September 2014
The general public needs to know what’s around them.
They need to be learning that there’s a world that is not paved.
There are lots of things that have life and function in the whole scheme,
people as well as plants and animals.
Not just dogs you’ve got on a leash, but animals that live out there,
are part of the whole ecosystem.

Continue reading →

SEB: Professor Elsie Quarterman: In Memorium, 1910-2014



Her students Carol and Jerry Baskin wrote for the

July 2014 Southeastern Biology newsletter of

The Association of Southeastern Biologists,
OBITUARY: Professor Elsie Quarterman: In Memorium, 1910-2014

Dr. Elsie Quarterman known fondly to her students as EQ passed away
on 9 June 2014 at her home in Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of
103 years. She was born on 28 November 1910 in Valdosta, Georgia.
Dr. Quarterman obtained her B. A. degree from Georgia State Women’s
College (now Valdosta State University) in 1932, Continue reading →

Remembering Elsie Quarterman –Paul Somers, Ph.D.

Posted with permission. I added the links. -jsq

Remembering Elsie Quarterman

by Paul Somers, Ph.D.

Retired State Botanist, Massachusetts Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program

and former botanist, Tennessee Natural Heritage Program



Not wanting to miss a chance to pay tribute to my friend, the 103+
year old Dr. Elsie Quarterman, I’m sitting down to reflect on my
remembrances of this wonderful woman who befriended me and many
other botanical and conservation colleagues. It was the summer of
1976 when I moved to Nashville to join the young staff of the

Tennessee Heritage Program as its first botanist. The program, now
well established with the State Department of Environment and
Conservation, benefited greatly from the prior work of Dr.
Quarterman (Elsie) and many of her graduate students at Vanderbilt
University who had done vegetation and rare plant studies in the
Central Basin of Tennessee.



For help with understanding and
conserving the best examples of cedar glades and their many endemic,
nearly endemic, or otherwise rare Tennessee plant species, I and
other colleagues frequently turned to Elsie and her Continue reading →

Dr. Quarterman’s ground-breaking work will continue –Dr. J. Richard Carter



Received 13 June 2014 and permission to publish granted today. -jsq

From: J Richard Carter

To: Patrick Quarterman

I am very sorry to hear about Dr. Quarterman. She was a remarkable
person. I started graduate school at Vanderbilt in 1978, a few
years after Dr. Quarterman retired, so I didn’t have the privilege
of taking her courses. However, she was still very much a presence
in the department, attending seminars and interacting with faculty
and students informally in the departmental conference room.

I also
remember that she very kindly gave me a set of reprints of

her classic Continue reading →

Elsie Quarterman WPLN audio



Nina Cardona of WPLN Nashville Public Radio talked about
pioneering ecologist Dr. Elsie Quarterman; here’s the audio:



Emily Siner // Nashville Public Radio // WPLN 90.3 FM // Enterprise Reporter



And here’s

WPLN’s text version of the same story.

The radio story draws on the video by MTSU Center for Cedar Glade Studies
of the

April 2008 dedication to Dr. Elsie Quarterman
of the annual wildflower festival at Cedars of Lebanon
State Park east of Nashville, Tennessee.

A memorial service will be held

10AM this Saturday 21 June 2014 at Westminster Presbyterian Church,
3900 West End Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee,
with a reception at the church following the service.
See the

Elsie blog page for many more stories and pictures of Aunt Elsie.

-jsq

Dedication of Cedar Glades Wildflower Festival to Dr. Quarterman



Here is video of the 11 April 2008 dedication of the Elsie Quarterman Cedar Glade Wildflower Festival at Cedars of Lebanon State Park,
posted on YouTube 29 January 2009 by the MTSU Center for Cedar Glade Studies.

-jsq

Using Solar –John S. Quarterman



From solar electric fences to selling solar power for profit,
John S. Quarterman will talk about
solar opportunities for farmers and some legal hurdles,
at

South Georgia Growing Local 2014:

Why solar power is the fastest growing industry in the world
and how to apply it to agriculture.
Financing is the main obstacle.
Some ways to get financing,
and at least one law that could be changed to help with that.



His conference bio: Continue reading →

From Fabulous Natural Fibers to Flamboyant Fabric: the craft and art of hand spinning and weaving –Amy Brown

Amy Brown will talk about making fibers into fabric at

South Georgia Growing Local 2014:



This lecture/ workshop will explore making yarn, thread, and cloth.
Preparing the natural fiber, the hand spinning process, and
 weaving will be demonstrated. There will be a  hands-on
introduction to many different natural fibers  and a discussion of
their individual characteristics which may be used to enhance a
final cloth. A few spindles and wool will be available if you would
like to try out what you have learned .  Inexpensive spinning and
weaving tools that are easy to make will be discussed so you can get
spinning and weaving right away.  Though the emphasis in this hour
and a half is on spinning for weaving, discussion will also include
spinning for knitting, crocheting, lacemaking, embroidery, and
sewing. Come and join us and learn to turn your cotton fields, pet
hair, sheep wool, and other fabulous fibers into unique cloth that
your friends will admire. 

Her speaker bio: Continue reading →