Grace Lotowycz

Grace E. "Betty" Lotowycz (May 11, 1916 – April 8, 2016) was an American botanist and United States Air Force pilot in World War II.

Career as a botanist
Lotowycz studied botany at Vassar College and graduated in 1938 and then joined the Experiment in International Living, a student-exchange climbing program in the Swiss Alps. She worked briefly as a curatorial assistant at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden.

Much later, in 1962, she worked at the Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park where she established and curated the herbarium of preserved plants that currently numbers about 10,000 specimens. She retired in 1984 after 22 years.

Lotowycz was a founding member of the Long Island Botanical Society and lifetime member of the Torrey Botanical Society.

Publications
At the age of 88, Lotowycz co-authored a book, ‘‘Illustrated Field Guide to Shrubs and Woody Vines of Long Island’’ with Barbara Conolly.

World War II
Lotowycz was a pilot in World War II, a fairly rare occurrence for women. Lotowycz and the other Women Airforce Service Pilots received the Congressional Gold Medal in 2009.