Pioneering Ecologist       Ruth Patrick   Dies at 105

December 2013

Ruth Patrick, a scientist known for her research on freshwater ecosystems, which led to groundbreaking ways to measure pollution in rivers and streams, died on Sept. 24, 2013 in Lafayette Hill, Pa. She was 105.

Awarded dozens of the nation's top science honors, including the National Medal of Science, Patrick is most credited with an approach that assesses the health of a lake, stream or river by analyzing the quantity, diversity and health of its plants, insects, fish and other organisms—not just the water itself.

"Basically, she demonstrated biological diversity can be used to measure environmental impact," conservation biologist Thomas Lovejoy told the Academy of Natural Sciences at Drexel University. "I call that the Patrick Principle and consider it the basis for all environmental science and management."

Patrick also crafted a tool to detect water pollution through the measurement of microscopic algae called diatoms. She spent most of her career at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, working there into her late 90s.

When first coming to the academy in 1933 as a graduate student, Patrick said, she would wear pants instead of dresses to better blend in with her male colleagues. She was one of the few women in science at the time.

Read our interview with Dr. Patrick, by Daina Dravnieks Apple, published in 2001.