Written by Grace Langeland
This past summer, a team from Calvin University partnered with Friends of Grand Rapids Parks to set out to continue the legacy of an inspiring local botanist, Emma Jane Cole. Students Erin Taylor, Charlie Baumeister, and Grace Langeland—under the guidance of Dr. Garrett Crow and Dr. David Warners—conducted botanical inventories at twelve local parks, documenting the rich diversity of our city’s plant life.
Grace Langeland, Erin Taylor, and Charlie Baumeister in Roberto Clemente Park. Photo: Evie Dzomba, Friends of Grand Rapids Parks.
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Who was Emma Cole?
Emma Cole was a pioneering teacher and botanist in Grand Rapids from the late 1800s into the early 1900s when women in science were severely underrepresented. Her work culminated in the publication of Grand Rapids Flora in 1901. This remarkable book details her extensive research of identifying and cataloging the diverse plant life in and around Grand Rapids. Cole documented thousands of species covering about 585 square miles, providing a more detailed and complete account of the local flora than anything previously done.
Her book, Grand Rapids Flora: A Catalogue of the Flowering Plants and Ferns Growing Without Cultivation in Vicinity of Grand Rapids, Michigan, remains a valuable source today, and you can even find some of her original plant specimens in university herbaria, including the University of Michigan.
1st image: Cover of Emma Cole’s book. Grand Rapids Flora: A Catalogue of the Flowering Plants and Ferns Growing Without Cultivation in Vicinity of Grand Rapids, Michigan. 2nd image: “The only known photo of Emma Jane Cole. The date of this photo is unknown, but it appears to have been taken early on in her teaching career at Central High School. The same photo was used in all the school’s yearbooks” (Source: Grand Rapids Public Museum).
About the Emma Cole Project:
Continuing her legacy, the Emma Cole Project is a multi-year botanical research initiative dedicated to documenting plant diversity within the natural areas around Grand Rapids.
This year’s team focused on assessing the quality of some of our local parks, which are highlighted on the map below (courtesy of Charlie Baumeister). Twelve urban parks were visited periodically throughout the summer from May to September. All the sites included forest habitat but ranged in area, with the smallest park being Camelot (2.2 acres) and the largest being Ken-O-Sha (99 acres). Of these twelve sites, four included floodplains along Plaster Creek. Emma Cole herself previously visited three of these sites: Ken-O-Sha, ED Property #2, and Ball-Perkins.
The data collected will help determine the best strategies for managing and restoring these areas—ensuring our parks will continue flourishing for years. With their research, the team produced detailed descriptions for each park and conducted Floristic Quality Assessments (FQAs), a key tool in evaluating the health of an ecosystem.
An FQA analyzes an area’s plant species to determine its Floristic Quality Index (FQI), a numerical snapshot of its ecological health. To calculate an FQI, each species’ Coefficient of Conservatism (C-value) is considered; a C-value is a value from 0 to 10, indicating its tolerance to disturbance. Species with a high C-value thrive only in healthy, stable environments, while those with a lower C-value can grow just about anywhere. With these scores, an FQI can provide a clear, quantifiable measure of an area’s botanical quality.
Map courtesy of Charlie Baumeister.
The team invested many hours in the field and the lab to complete a comprehensive botanical inventory for each park, essential for performing the FQA. A typical day for the Emma Cole Project team involved heading to one of the parks to make a list of all the identifiable plant species found there—focusing on those not previously documented. They also collected specimens of plants that were flowering or in fruit, either abundant or rare, and those that couldn’t immediately be identified.
In the afternoon, the team would return to Calvin’s herbarium to confirm plant identifications and to press the collected specimens for drying. The drying allows the plants to be added to herbarium records eventually. They also uploaded the day’s data to documents and spreadsheets to keep it organized and easily accessible for future use.
Charlie, Erin, and Grace collect specimens from Roberto Clemente Park to press and dry in Calvin’s herbarium. Photos: Evie Dzomba, Friends of Grand Rapids Parks.
Next Steps:
The findings from this year’s Emma Cole project are used to create tailored management plans for each park based on their FQIs, detailed species descriptions, and field observations. These plans will help us better care for the parks and green spaces that mean so much to our Grand Rapids community.
To join us in the ongoing effort to restore and revitalize our local parks, follow Friends of Grand Rapids Parks for updates and volunteer opportunities. With help from the research conducted this summer, we can enhance and protect these valuable green spaces for everyone to enjoy!
Invasive Control Workdays were held in 6 parks and green spaces in 2024, including Provin Trails (first image) and Huff Park (2nd image). Photos: Evie Dzomba, Friends of Grand Rapids Parks.
Grace Langeland is a student at Calvin University pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Biology along with a Strategic Communications major. With a passion for botany, ecology, sustainability, and chemistry, Grace is dedicated to effectively communicating scientific ideas and fostering a greater understanding of our natural world.
USDA and Friends of Grand Rapids Parks are equal opportunity providers and employers. Funding for this project provided by the Inflation Reduction Act and the USDA Forest Service, Urban and Community Forestry Program.