Dragonfly Tales-Mapping Odonata
A Dragonfly named Martha and a Shark Named Genie
- By Steve Melcher
How do you get a shark named after you? How do you get the nickname ‘Queen of the Deep’? How do you get a spot named after you on the ‘100 Acre’ map of Odonata Sanctuary? You become an activist and do something that is outstanding through your love and passion that contributes to our understanding of the environment. The women in this story created lives that directly impacted the environment in a positive way, making the ride in this spaceship we call Earth a safer, healthier, more pleasant one. All of these women and many more have not only excelled in a particular field of study, but have cared enough to become activists and initiate changes that benefit our peaceful journey through the universe.
The Dragonfly Lady, Miss Mattie Wadsworth (1862-1943)
An observer and collector, Mattie Wadsworth started out collecting stamps as a young girl. She and her two sisters ran the family farm in Hallowell, Maine at the turn of the last century. Her interests switched to butterflies and beetles and then to her final passion: dragonflies. President of her local ‘Swiss Cross’, a nature club dedicated to the Swiss naturalist, Louis Agassiz, she was involved in early citizen science efforts and answered the call for dragonfly specimens and data from across the country. Her keen observations and writings were admired by the more established scientists of that time.There are several specimens of insects that she observed and collected that no longer survive in the US.
Species named in her honor: Celithemis martha (Odonata: Libellulidae)
Odonata Map: Mattie’s Marsh
The Shark Lady, Eugenie Clark
I helped Bosco Medved tag sharks in the Delaware and Chesapeake Bays as part of his PhD thesis. (He helped me scrape critters off boat bottoms and beer bottles for my studies.) Bosco’s main advisor was none other than the ‘Shark Lady’ herself, Eugenie Clark. Dr. Clark would come onboard and haul in the nets with the rest of us, while puffing away on a smoking corncob pipe, ‘To keep the mosquitoes at bay’. Clark was the one that discovered that sharks do indeed sleep, dispelling the myth that sharks need to keep swimming to survive. She was an outspoken advocate against the public perception of sharks as mindless man-eating machines and became especially vocal after a 1975 hit movie whose music still sends chills down many backs. Born in the Big Apple, she says she was first exposed to sharks pressing her nose against the public aquariums in New York. As a Japanese American, she was one of only a handful of female scientists in the male-dominated field of marine biology. She made many discoveries and even helped further develop the crude SCUBA gear of that time. While doing research in the Sea of Cortez, David Doubliet of the National Geographic Society said, “I never thought I’d see her again’, as he watched Genie ride off into the sunset on the back of a fifty foot whale. ‘That was the ride of my life’ she told him after he finally caught up with her. Clark and another early underwater explorer, Sylvia Earle, would become role models and mentors to a generation of women marine biologists.
Species named in her honor: Squalus clarkae, a type of dogfish shark
Odonata Map: Genie’s Shark Tank
Queen of the Deep, Dr. Sylvia Earle
“It’s the ignorance that most people have about why the ocean matters to them. Who cares if the ocean dries up tomorrow? The ocean should and does matter to everyone. Even the people who have never seen the ocean are touched by the ocean with every breath you take, every drop of water you drink.”
Dr. Sylvia Earle aka ‘Her Deepness’ aka ‘The Sturgeon General’ is not only a wicked good swing dancer but holds the record for the deepest solo dive. Time Magazine awarded her the first ‘Hero for the Planet’ in 1998. She was the first woman to serve as Chief Scientist of NOAA and is still ‘Explorer in Residence’ of the National Geographic Society. She helped organize ‘Mission Blue’, a global coalition of over 200 organizations that have cited ‘Hope Spots’ that are in dire need of protection. When the oil was spilled during the Exxon Valdez, Deep Water Horizon and Mega Bora disasters, she was called in as an expert to deal with these catastrophes. I fondly remember discussing ‘Soylent Green’ with her on board ship while eating the chef’s green cookies he had prepared one Tuesday as a joke. The oceans were going to feed the world and algae was going to become a major food source. Little did we know how the tide would turn and how important a plant-based diet would become.
Sylvia has had several species named after her. In 2016 she named a newly discovered fish after President Barack Obama. So not only do you have a chance to get a species named in your honor by another scientist, you can find a new species and name it after someone!
Species name: Tosanoides obama
Odonata Sanctuary Map: the deep end of Willow Pond is called “The Earle.”
“Only within the moment of time represented by the present century has one species—man —acquired significant power to alter the nature of his world.” Rachel Carson, Silent Spring
Mabel Rosalie Barrow Edge
Dedicated New York suffragist, Rosalie Edge was a wealthy socialite who was anything but demure and proper. Edge probably rubbed elbows with Susan B. Anthony in the lecture halls and churches of that time. After the 19th Amendment passed, Edge shifted her efforts to helping the fledgling National Audubon Society. Rosalie actually sued the NAS and made a point of exposing the existing corruption perpetrated by the all- male board of directors. She became aware of the gender-based injustices happening within the National Audubon Society and through lawsuits, pamphlets and public speaking, she successfully flipped the board, replacing them with members more interested in green space than greenbacks. One of the green spaces Edge wanted to preserve became the Hawk Mountain Preserve in Pennsylvania where Joe Taylor, a founding member of the American Birding Association, was president for over 20 years. Odonata Sanctuary resides on land Joe and Helen Taylor purchased to preserve back in the 60’s. The NAS couldn’t come up with the funds to purchase the land so Rosalie bought it and happily ran the hawk migration sanctuary for the rest of her life.
What do Odonata Sanctuary, a wealthy New York City suffragette, Hawk Mountain and Rachel Carson have in common?
Rosalie Edge was a pertinacious and persistent activist. She moved the environmental movement in ways we can still feel today. Rachal Carson communicated with her. asking for hawk migration data that Carson later used in her epic work on DDT: Silent Spring.
Species name: There is a Red Tailed Hawk at the Virginia Wildlife Center named ‘Rosalie’ after the wildlife advocate
Odonata Sanctuary Map: Rosalie’s Edge (a steep esker along Rowan River)
The Seed Saver, Vandana Shiva
Ecofeminist, writer, and scientist, Vandana Shiva was listed as one of ‘5 Women Who Have Revolutionized the Environmental Movement’ by the ‘Institute of the Environment’ of UConn. I was fortunate to meet her at a conference at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. She is a champion of women in agriculture and local sovereignty and seed saving. In 1991, she started Navdanya with the mission to “protect diversity and integrity of living resources, especially native seed, and the promotion of organic farming and fair trade”. Her work in India is now becoming relevant in the states where small farmers are being discouraged to save their own seeds and buy commercially available seed instead. Many of the seeds are marketed as “Roundup Ready’ to withstand the use of pesticides and herbicides. Farmers, worldwide, are becoming dependent on seeds from companies like Monsanto. When asked what the average person can do to help make a change, Shiva responded, “you are not Atlas carrying the world on your shoulder. It is good to remember that the planet is carrying you.”
Navdanya means “nine gifts”. This gift or “dana” of Navadhanyas (nine seeds) is the ultimate gift – it is a gift of life, of heritage, and of continuity.
Odonata Sanctuary Map: Shiva’s Seed Shack
The Pissed Off Mom, Lois Gibbs
You might think it would be difficult to name a place after the woman who put Love Canal on the map but we managed to find an old dump site that fits the bill. Gibbs tale is a
story of the power that personal impact has to inspire national activism. As a mother in the small, suburban neighborhood of Love Canal she became the spokesperson for environmental
and corporate injustice. It was discovered that her son’s elementary school and the entire neighborhood, was built on top of a toxic waste site. She began knocking on doors and creating petitions to bring attention to the imminent danger of the dump site. She created the Love Canal Homeowners Association and after years of confrontations with the New York State Department of Health through grassroots activism she was able to have nearly one thousand families evacuated from Love Canal and start a massive clean up that would become known as the Superfund Program.
Gibbs founded the Center for Health, Environment and Justice (CHEJ) and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Odonata Sanctuary Map: Gibbs Garbage Dump
This is just a sprinkling of women activists.
*We’re still developing the map here at Odonata Sanctuary. We just added Alison’s Acre, named after local food and farm activist, Alison Clark. The boy’s room has been named after Jane Goodall in honor of her work with chimps.
