Ynés Mexia
Ynés Mexia was a renowned #botanist and an intrepid #explorer who cataloged and identified valuable plant specimens of North and South America.
Featuring artwork by Miler Ximeno Lopez & words by Dr. Sumbul Jawed Khan, Sci-Illustrate Stories. Set in motion by Dr. Radhika Patnala.
Identifying and mapping the local flora and fauna is the first step towards the conservation of biodiversity. We owe our present knowledge of the planets biodiversity to the countless naturalists, zoologists and botanists who painstakingly collect, catalog and classify the unique specimens from every environmental niche. And the name of Ynés Mexia (1870–1938) shines amongst the brightest of them all.
Ynés Mexia was a renowned Mexican American botanist and explorer. She mapped the rich plant biodiversity of North and South America, collecting more than 150,000 specimens and described about 500 new species, 50 of which are named after her.
Early Life
Details of her earlier life are not well documented. Ynés Enriquetta Julietta Mexia was born on May 24, 1870, in Georgetown, Washington, D.C., to a Mexican diplomat Enrique Mexia and Sarah Wilmer Mexia. Her parents separated when she was three years old. Her mother moved to Texas with Ynés and her stepsiblings. As a teenager she attended private schools in Philadelphia, Maryland and Ontario, Canada. She then moved to Mexico City where she took care of her father until his death in 1896.
Many personal upheavals mark the next phase of her life. While living in Mexico she married a Spanish- German merchant Herman E. de Laue in 1898. She got embroiled in a legal battle over her father’s will with his mistress. Eventually she won the case and divided the inheritance between herself and her stepsisters. Soon after her husband passed away in 1904. She married again at the age of 38 to Augustin A. de Raygados, which turned out to be an ill-fated choice. Her husband mismanaged her poultry business, which she started on her property in Mexico City. She suffered from a nervous breakdown and went to San Francisco to receive medical treatment in 1908. The marriage soon ended and Ynésdecided to continue to live San Francisco.
New Life and Second Chances in California
Ynés got a chance to make a fresh start in California, where she spent the rest of her life. She got busy with social work, and joined the Sierra Club that took her to the mountains and forests of Northern California that she quickly fell in love with. She was involved in the conservation program of the Redwoods. She found mental and physical solace by interacting with nature.
Her foray into Botany occurred in 1921, when at the age of 51 she enrolled as a special student at the University of California, Berkeley. Despite being uncommon for a person of her age, her enthusiasm and dedication quickly became her hallmark. She befriended botanist Alice Eastwood, from the California Academy of Sciences, who became her mentor. Ynés accompanied Alice in her collection trips to different parts of California.
An Avid Botanist
Ynes joined fellow botanist Roxana Stinchfeld Ferris of Stanford University on anexpedition to Sinaloa, Mexico in 1925. This was her first major expedition, and despite being injured during the trip Ynés brought back 500 new plant samples, including Mimosa mexiae, the first plant named after her. Her success on the trip established her reputation.
This was followed by an expedition to Mt. Kinley in Alaska in 1928. She was the first person to collect samples from the region from what is now the Denali National Park. She went on plant collection trips to the South American countries of Chile, Equador, Peru, Brazil and Argentina between 1929–1932 and1934–1937. She would travel long distances, through difficult terrains, and to the remotest areas, sometimes on foot, boats, horses or whatever mode of transportation was available, to collect some of the rarest plant specimens. She once famously traveled on a steamship, a canoe and a balsa raft along the Amazon river to get to a collection site.
Ynés was a dedicated scientist, who always used her resourcefulness and tenacity. She would sometimes go on solo journeys as she considered it to be more productive for her. Fieldwork was considered an unfeminine activity at the time, yet Ynés displayed uncharacteristic courage and independence that made her face all the challenges. On a difficult trip to the Chiles-Cerro Negro Volcanic complex at the border of Colombia and Ecuador, she finally found the elusive palm tree that she was looking for after climbing a steep path. Later while describing her experience she wrote in the Sierra Club Bulletin:
“Then we started on the long journey back; very tired, very hot, very dirty, but very happy..”
The words above capture her scientific spirit, as her commitment to the cause was greater than the hardships she faced. On an expedition to Mexico, which would become her final collection trip, she got very sick. She came back to San Francisco and was diagnosed with lung cancer. She passed away in 1939.
A Lasting Legacy
She started her career at an age when people are thinking of retirement. But Ynés found meaning in collecting plants and dedicated her life to the pursuit of botany. She was fond of naming the plants after herself, as it was a way to be remembered, and indeed she immortalized herself through her work. Despite her short 16-year career she could achieve what most people could only hope for in a lifetime. A Google Doodle was released in September 2019 to celebrate her legacy.
Scientists still study her specimens available in various museums across the US and Europe. Despite not being able to finish her college degree, she was well known in the botanical community. Her work was mentioned in botanical society journals and she was invited to give lectures. From the icy mountains of Alaska to the volcanic regions of Chile, Ynés braved the difficult terrains to collect, document and preserve the precious biodiversity of the planet.
Timeline-
1870- born in Washington DC to Sarah R. Wilmer Mexia and Enrique Antonio Mexia
1898- Married to Herman E. de Laue, who passed away in 1904
1907- Second marriage to Augustin A. de Raygados
1908- Moved to San Francisco, California
1921- Enrolled in the University of California, Berkeley as a special student. She was enrolled until 1937, but never finished her degree
1925- First plant collection trip to Mexico, with Botanist Roxana Ferris
1928- Trip to Mt. McKinley in Alaska
1929- 32- First Expedition to South America
1934–37- Second Expedition to South America
1938- Passed away due to lung cancer
Sources:
About the Author:
DR. SUMBUL JAWED KHAN
Content Editor, Women In Science, Sci-Illustrate Stories.
Dr. Khan received her Ph. D. in Biological Sciences and Bioengineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, where she studied the role of microenvironment in cancer progression and tumor formation. During her post-doctoral research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Dr. Khan investigated the gene regulatory networks that are important for tissue regeneration after damage or wounding. Dr. Khan is committed to science outreach activities, to make scientific research understandable and relatable to the non-scientific community. She believes it is essential to inspire young people to apply scientific methods to tackle the current challenges faced by humanity.
About the Artist:
MILER XIMENA LÓPEZ
Contributing Artist Women in Science, Sci-Illustrate stories
Expressing myself graphically has always been a source of great satisfaction for me. With my work, I can provide many things to others in different positive ways, as well as get a lot in return, because in every goal achieved, in every process, there is a lot to learn.
About the Series:
Not enough can be said about the amazing Women in Science who did and continue to do their part in moving the world forward.
Every month, through the artwork & words of the Sci-Illustrate team, we will bring to you profiles of women who touched our hearts (and brains) with their scientific works, and of many more who currently hold the flag high in their own fields!
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