The Ames botanist — Iowa State's first woman PhD — who fought to save Iowa's vanishing prairie.
Ada Hayden was born in 1884 near Ames, Iowa, and spent her life studying the state's native plants. In 1918 she became the first woman to earn a doctorate from Iowa State College.
As a botanist and photographer she documented Iowa's tallgrass prairie and campaigned to preserve remnants of it before they were plowed under — laying the groundwork for the state's prairie-preserve system.
Hayden's work saved irreplaceable pieces of Iowa's original landscape. Hayden Prairie State Preserve, one of the largest surviving tallgrass prairies in the state, is named for her, as is Iowa State's herbarium.
She is a foundational figure in Iowa conservation.
The Ames botanist — Iowa State's first woman PhD — who fought to save Iowa's vanishing prairie.
Ada Hayden was from Ames, Iowa.
1884–1950.
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