Background
Quarterman, Elsie was born on November 28, 1910 in Valdosta, Georgia, United States. Daughter of David Sinclair Quarterman and Alla (Irene) Peek.
Quarterman, Elsie was born on November 28, 1910 in Valdosta, Georgia, United States. Daughter of David Sinclair Quarterman and Alla (Irene) Peek.
AB, Valdosta State, 1932. AM, Duke University, 1941. Doctor of Philosophy, Duke University, 1949.
She was a Professor Emerita at Vanderbilt University. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from Georgia State Women"s College (now Valdosta State University) in 1932 and earned an Master of Arts in botany from Duke University in 1943. During her graduate work and afterward, she also collaborated extensively with Catherine Keever.
Quarterman is best known for her work on the ecology of Tennessee cedar glades.
These herb-dominated plant communities on the shallow soils of limestone outcrops are globally rare habitats and contain many endemic plant species. She is also credited with rediscovering the native Tennessee coneflower, Echinacea tennesseensis, which was thought to be extinct, in 1969.
Conservation efforts for the coneflower were successful, and it was delisted as an endangered species in 2011. She supervised seven doctoral students, including Stewart Ware, a plant ecologist at the College of William and Mary, and Carol C. Baskin and Jerry M. Baskin, professors at the University of Kentucky.
Throughout her career, Quarterman was also active in conservation.
She died on June 9, 2014, at the age of 103.
Member Association Southeastern Biologists (vice president 1958-1959, treasurer 1959-1962, president 1966-1967, Meritorious Teaching award 1988), Nature Conservancy (board of directors Tennessee chapter 1984-1990, Oak Leaf award 1981, Sol Feinstein Conservation award 1982).
