Eloise Gerry facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Eloise Gerry
|
|
|---|---|
,_shown_at_microscope.jpg) |
|
| Born | January 12, 1885 |
| Died | November 9, 1970 (aged 85) |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Radcliffe College, University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| Known for | Forest products research |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Forestry |
| Institutions | United States Forest Service |
Eloise Gerry (born January 12, 1885 – died 1970) was an important scientist. She studied southern pine trees and how to get turpentine from them. Turpentine is a useful liquid that comes from tree sap.
Eloise Gerry was the first woman to join the professional team at the U.S. Forest Service. She worked at the Forest Products Laboratory. She was also one of the first women in the United States to focus on researching products from forests.
Contents
Becoming a Forest Scientist
Eloise Gerry was born in Boston, Massachusetts. She went to Radcliffe College, which was part of Harvard University. There, she earned two degrees. She learned all about how wood and trees are built. She also studied how trees react to different things.
In 1910, the U.S. Forest Service hired her as a research scientist. She gave a speech in 1914 about "The Structure of Wood and Some of its Properties and Uses." This means she talked about how wood is made and what it can be used for.
While working at the new Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) in Madison, Wisconsin, she kept studying. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 1921. Her special research project was about how to get oleoresin (tree sap) from southern pine trees. She looked closely at how different ways of getting sap affected the trees.
Studying Pine Trees and Turpentine
Eloise Gerry's most important work was about southern pine trees and getting turpentine from them. She worked in Mississippi. She was a pioneer in using microscopes to study how resin (sap) is made inside pine trees.
She found new ways to get more turpentine from trees. She also found ways to help trees live longer while still producing sap. She believed that looking at trees up close with a microscope helped her understand them better. She said it revealed "many secrets" about how trees make turpentine. This was faster than just trying different methods.
Her research helped create a plan called "More turpentine, less scar, better pine." This plan helped the turpentine industry a lot. Many people said her work saved the industry.
Later Work and Retirement
During World War II, Eloise Gerry wrote important papers for the FPL. These papers were about problems with wood used in airplanes and gliders for training. After the war, she studied wood from other countries.
Eloise Gerry worked for the U.S. Forest Service for 44 years. She retired in 1954. She passed away in 1970 when she was 85 years old.
Images for kids
-
Eloise B. Gerry with her dog
