Lois Jotter, botanist and Grand Canyon river pioneer, was born on March 11, 1914.
Lois Jotter was born on March 11, 1914. She would go on to become a distinguished botanist best known for her pioneering 1938 expedition through the Grand Canyon, which made her one of the first two non-native women to travel the length of the canyon by boat and the first botanist to formally catalog its riparian flora.
Raised in an era when scientific fieldwork—particularly in rugged, remote terrain—was overwhelmingly dominated by men, Jotter pursued rigorous training in botany, eventually undertaking graduate studies at the University of Michigan under Elzada Clover, who would become her expedition partner and lifelong professional colleague. Her birth marks the beginning of a life dedicated to plant science, teaching, and quiet trailblazing for women in field research.