At 99, scientist
is in her environment

By Diane Prokop
Times Staff Writer

Dr. Ruth Patrick might remind you of a combination of Katharine Hepburn, with her patrician elegance, and celebrity chef Julia Child, most notably for her ebullient personality and strong features.
While not as well known to the populace as those two late icons, Patrick, who will celebrate her 100th birthday in November, is a legend among her peers in the scientific community for her pioneering work studying diatoms — a microscopic species of algae — as a way to assess the health of fresh bodies of water.
The renowned scientist combined field work and laboratory science to prove that biological diversity holds the key to environmental problems that affect an ecosystem. All environmental science and management is based on her Patrick Principle, theories derived from the study of aquatic systems, according to the Web site of Philadelphia’s Academy of Natural Sciences, at 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
Called "the den mother of ecology," Patrick, who was awarded the National Medal of Science by former President Bill Clinton in 1996, still finds pleasure coming to work at the Academy, as she has for 74 years now.
Patrick, who was born in Topeka, Kan., came to Philadelphia after her marriage.
"I first came to the Academy in 1945-46. I was getting my Ph.D. and working on my thesis on diatoms. The Academy had a famous collection of diatoms, but nobody ever used it," she said while at work in her office last week.
The collection belonged to Francis Boyer, a well-known diatomist and a cousin of Patrick’s by marriage.
"He said, ‘You let Dr. Patrick use anything she wants,’" she recalled of that time in the ’40s.
When the young scientist expressed a desire to continue working at the Academy after earning her doctorate, she learned that female scientists were not paid. Patrick decided to become a full-time volunteer and oversaw the institution’s extensive diatom collection.
"I did it for nothing," she said, adding, "that was when nobody liked a woman scientist."
Patrick inherited her father’s curious mind. He’s the one who inspired her to follow her field of study, she explained.
"My father was a lawyer. You have to remember that in the gay nineties there was no TV or radio, and well-to-do people had leisure time and intelligent people had hobbies," Patrick said.
Her father’s hobby was to study nature under the microscope. That brought to mind a series of books that Patrick recalled helping to save at a library — Robert Hardwicke’s Science-Gossip: An Illustrated Medium of Interchange and Gossip for Students and Lovers of Nature.
"It was about what people like my father did in those days," the scientist said.
Patrick still vividly recalls her "joy as a child to peer into his microscope before my nurse took me off to bed. I used to lie on the floor where there was good north light. That’s when I got interested in science," she said.
Patrick was about 7 when she got her very own microscope. It became a key component of her life, and after following the path of scientist and researcher, with 30 years of experience with a microscope, Patrick finally was put on the Academy’s payroll in 1945, earning $1,000 per year.
That salary was the first of many validations of scientific achievement for the woman who invented the diatometer, which collects the algae species from the water.
In 1947, she was named chairwoman and curator of the Academy’s Limnology Department, which is devoted to the scientific study of bodies of fresh water.
Among the more than 40 prestigious honors bestowed upon Patrick during her career was her election to the National Academy of Science in 1970. In 1983, the Academy of Natural Sciences paid tribute to Patrick by changing the name of the Limnology Department to the Patrick Center for Environmental Research.
The center is a world leader in studying the effects of natural and human activities on ecosystems, and by working with government, industry and community groups, it develops strategies to enhance environmental quality and improve stewardship for its future protection.
According to Academy scientist Frank Acker, Patrick’s most important contribution to the scientific community is integrated science.
"It’s very important now in terms of what we’re doing with the environment," Acker said.
When he came to work at the Academy 30 years ago, Acker recalled, his colleagues had just celebrated Patrick’s third retirement party. Yet she she still can be found in her office most every day. Her co-workers are looking forward to celebrating that milestone 100th birthday in November.
Visitors to the Academy can see the tools of Patrick’s trade, including her diatometer, pith helmet and hip waders, nets, jars and field microscopes, and even her National Medal of Science — it’s all part of an exhibit called Ruth Patrick: 74 Years on the Job at the Academy. The display, located on the second floor outside of the Ewell Sale Stewart Library, will be on view through mid-October.
"I think it’s a great honor," Patrick said.
Patrick also is featured in an exhibition at the American Philosophical Society, 104 S. Fifth St. Her scientific contributions are highlighted in Undaunted: Five American Explorers, 1760-2007, which is at the society through Dec. 28, 2008. ••
For more information on Dr. Ruth Patrick, visit www.ansp.org/research/pcer/rp/index.php
To see clips of WHYY’s Hometown Legends program featuring Patrick, visit www.whyy.org/tv12/RuthPatrick.html
Reporter Diane Prokop can be reached at 215-354-3036 or dprokop@phillynews.com