Frances Hamerstrom (December 16, 1907 – August 29, 1998) was an American writer, naturalist and ornithologist known for her work with the greater prairie chicken in Wisconsin, and for her research on birds of prey. Hamerstrom was a prolific writer, publishing over 100 professional papers and 10 books on the prairie chicken, harriers, eagles, and other wildlife topics. Some were translated into German. Biography Frances Flint was born in 1907 into a wealthy family in Boston, Massachusetts. As a youth, she attended Milton Academy. As a child Hamerstrom developed a fascination with the natural world. Despite her parents' complaints that such behavior was "unladylike", she kept wild pets, learned to hunt, and tended her own gardens. To keep her family from uncovering evidence of her wildlife adventures, she planted poison ivy along the path that led to where she kept her wilderness gear. (Hamerstrom was naturally immune to its effects). Hamerstrom attended Smith College but proudly flunked out. She was disinterested in classes and felt she could learn more from the natural world than in a classroom. She met her husband, Frederick Hamerstrom (also a naturalist at heart), at a dance. Shortly after, in 1931, they married in secret. Later they remarried in a ceremony in Massachusetts. Hamerstrom and her husband wanted to work with wildlife, at a time when the modern wildlife management and research profession was in its infancy. After meeting wildlife conservationist and ecologist Aldo Leopold, the Hamerstroms went to Iowa State University to study under Paul Errington. In 1935, Frances earned her Bachelor's Degree from Iowa State University, where she also worked on the topic of predation and the food habits of the great horned owl. After graduating, Frances and Frederick moved to Wisconsin to work at a wildlife refuge and to attend graduate school at the University of Wisconsin under Aldo Leopold. Frances was Leopold's only female graduate student. She earned her Master's degree in wildlife management in 1940. During this time, the Hamerstroms both began their research on the imperiled greater prairie chicken, an endangered species in Wisconsin. Research In 1949, Frances became the second woman to work as a wildlife professional in Wisconsin. The Hamerstroms both worked for the Department of Natural Resources in Wisconsin. Their lifetime study of the endangered prairie chicken, in a research area that included the Buena Vista and Leola Marshes, was their major contribution to the field. The