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
former graduate
students like
Drs. Jerry and Carol Baskin, now faculty members at
the University of Kentucky, for advice and assistance, and it was
always generously given. Her work for the National Park Service
identifying Middle Tennessee sites worthy of recognition as National
Natural Landmarks and her many years of volunteer service for the
Tennessee chapter of
The Nature Conservancy were also valuable
contributions to the conservation efforts in the region. More than
an excellent ecologist, she was committed to putting her expertise
and credibility to use in pursuit of conserving the natural
landscapes that she and her students had studied, appreciated and
recognized as threatened ecosystems and species.
Whatever was needed, Elsie was there to help. I recall her helping
me and
Larry Smith, the programs first plant ecologist and natural
areas administrator, identify some of the
cedar glades in the Nashville Basin
in need of protection. She was a participant in the
statewide multi-agency Protection Planning meetings where actions
were devised to further natural area protection and management. She
was there when I needed advice while drafting the
Recovery Plan for
the
once Federally Endangered Tennessee Coneflower, a species
recently delisted after 30 years of recovery efforts.
She was also
there when Drs. Paul and
Hazel Delcourt asked for Elsie’s help in
locating wetlands in the Highland Rim and Central Basin regions
where they could extract core samples for pollen analysis that would
reveal the regions past vegetation. She provided some good
recommendations and the rest is history—
paleo-history of the Highland Rim.
I recall Elsie laughing at herself after returning
from one of her outings to a sampling site with the Delcourts.
Apparently there was a wire fence to cross and while straddling it,
Elsie was tossed to the ground, learning the hard way that it was
electrified.
Perhaps the time that I needed Elsie the most was when a proposed
route for Interstate 840 was slated by the Tennessee Department of
Transportation to go directly through a very significant cedar glade
known as
Sunnybell Glade, named as such because of its dense stands
of a yellow-flowered member of the lily family commonly known as
sunnybells. My initial meeting or two with officials at the
Department of Transportation were cordial
but resulted in no change
to their plans, so I turned to friends in the media and within 24
hours Elsie was being interviewed by Nashville TV networks about the
significance of the glade and its resources. Within another 24
hours, we learned that
an alternative route would be considered, and
soon, after some further planning and public hearings, the glade was
spared. It is now
a state-owned and managed natural area.
Aside from her many contributions to ecology and conservation, I
have to remark on Elsie as a person. She was obviously a woman ahead
of her time—a person with great energy who worked harder than
most. A tall woman, she stayed fit. I recall being in a Yoga class
with Elsie when she was about 70. She was also a great fan of Vandy
basketball. She is the kind of person who, when she speaks, commands
trust and respect. She simultaneously displays intelligence, wisdom
and charm. She could be hard-nosed, sticking to her guns, or
compassionate. She was a southern lady who was not prejudicial
toward anyone—a flower gardener, a lover of beauty, art,
music, new recipes, and the company of good friends—many so
much younger than herself. I’ll never forget the enjoyment of a
couple of wonderfully informal yet elegant dinner parties hosted by
Elsie at her home on Belmont Park Court in Nashville. Elsie’s
friendship is one to cherish and something I will always remember.
Thank you Elsie!
28 July 2012 (with slight update, 11 June 2014)