Ruth Patrick in the intellectual community at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia

Background/Question/Methods

Ruth Myrtle Patrick was born in an era where women were encouraged to be educated on how to sew and cook, Patrick found other interests that she vigorously pursued.  Patrick was born in November 1907 in Topeka, Kansas, more than a decade before her mother could cast a vote.  Patrick’s interest in learning developed at an early age; she used the gift of a microscope that her father gave when she was 7 and never looked back.  She graduated from Coker College in South Carolina and earned her PhD from the University of Virginia.  Soon thereafter, Patrick joined the Academy of Natural Sciences and took charge in two endeavors, diatoms and stream pollution. 

Results/Conclusions

In terms of basic research, Patrick’s work on diatoms was foundational and led to the creation of one of the largest diatom research collections.  In her own trail blazing way, she was interested in studying these microorganisms but there were no collections at the time.  This prompted her to start her own collection by taking preserved tadpoles from around the world and collecting diatom samples from the intestines.   Patrick’s love of the microscopic organisms led to the work that may be most connected to her, water quality.  Patrick would end up making numerous visits to South Carolina to study pollution in streams.  She proposed the use of diatoms as indicator species for the health of streams and was soon conducting biological studies in the Conestoga Basin.  Patrick paved the way for studies to utilize measures of biodiversity to assess stream health, particularly to monitor and mitigate anthropogenic pollution such as agricultural runoff and industrial discharge.