Edith M. (Edith Marion) Patch

Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1876, Edith Marion Patch became an American entomologist and writer whose career joined careful scientific work with clear, inviting prose. She studied at the University of Minnesota, later earned advanced degrees from the University of Maine and Cornell, and built her professional life around the study of insects, especially aphids.

Patch organized the entomology work at the University of Maine's agricultural experiment station and went on to lead the department there, becoming widely respected in her field. She is also remembered as the first woman president of the Entomological Society of America, a sign of how unusual and influential her career was in the early twentieth century.

Alongside her research, she wrote books that brought the natural world to non-specialist readers, including young people. That mix of scientific authority and warm, observant storytelling gives her work a lasting charm.