Erna Walter facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Erna Walter
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| Born |
Erna Schenck
11 August 1893 Bonn, Germany
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| Died | 2 January 1992 (aged 98) |
| Nationality | German |
| Alma mater | University of Heidelberg |
| Occupation | Botanist |
| Parent(s) |
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Erna Walter (born August 11, 1893, in Bonn – died January 2, 1992) was a German scientist. She was a botanist, which means she studied plants. She was also an ecologist, someone who studies how living things interact with their environment. Erna Walter was known for collecting plants and studying mosses and lichens.
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Erna Walter's Life and Work
Erna Walter was the daughter of Heinrich Schenck, who was also a famous botanist. She grew up with a love for science. Erna studied botany, physics, and chemistry. She went to universities in Darmstadt and Heidelberg.
Her University Studies
In 1918, Erna Walter earned her doctorate degree. This is a very high university degree. She studied under a botanist named Georg Albrecht Klebs at the University of Heidelberg. Her special research project was about bacteria.
Early Career and Research
After her studies, Erna Walter worked in different science jobs. She was a scientific assistant at the Botanical Institute in Heidelberg. She also worked as an intern at the Biological Reich Institute in Berlin. Later, she even worked at a sugar factory and a wine school. These jobs helped her learn about different parts of plant science.
Exploring the World with Her Husband
In 1924, Erna Walter married Heinrich Walter. He was a geobotanist, meaning he studied plants and their environments around the world. Together, they went on many research trips. They traveled to different vegetation zones across the globe.
On these trips, Erna Walter focused on studying lichens and mosses. These are small, non-flowering plants. The couple wanted to explore every major plant region and climate zone. Their goal was to collect plant samples from all over the world. This helped them compare plants from different places.
Erna Walter was a very important part of her husband's research. He often gave her credit for her hard work in his books and papers.
Collecting Plants for Science
Erna Walter worked with other collectors too. These included Kamil Karamanoglu, Charles Killian, and R.P. Maire. She collected a huge number of plant samples. She is known for collecting 584 specimens. These samples came from at least 16 different countries.
Her plant collections are kept in the Munich Herbarium. A herbarium is like a library for dried plant samples. Her collection includes mosses and lichens from many places. Some of these countries are Argentina, Australia, Chile, Germany, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Canada, Namibia, New Zealand, Norway, Austria, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the British Isles, and Venezuela.
