Braun, E. Lucy

Braun, E. (Emma) Lucy (1889–1971) botanist; born in Cincinnati, Ohio. She obtained undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Cincinnati, and remained there as an educator and researcher (1917–48). With her sister, entomologist Annette Braun, she made extensive field studies of the Ohio area. Emma's knowledge of geology facilitated her analysis of flora of the Appalachians. Her 25 years of exploring the vegetation of Ohio and Kentucky led to her classic ecological study of hardwood forests, Deciduous Forests of Eastern North America (1950). She was one of the first American botanists to compare the changes in a particular flora over a historical time period. She fought for saving natural habitats and was elected the first woman president of the Ohio Academy of Science (1933–34) and the Ecological Society of America (1950).