Thomas Huston Macbride

Biography

Thomas Huston Macbride dedicated his life to the study of the natural world, teaching botany and ecology with a steady enthusiasm that inspired students at the University of Iowa and across the Midwest. As a state naturalist and scholar, he documented the rich plant life of the prairies and forests, encouraging conservation long before it became a widespread cause.

His legacy lives on in the generations of naturalists who followed him and in the quiet places he helped protect, for he believed that a deep understanding of nature was the foundation of both education and citizenship.