Doris Cochran was a herpetologist who collected over 3,000 frog specimens from Brazil in her career! Help us detail her South American discoveries (1962-1963) by transcribing pages of her travelog.
Doris Cochran was a herpetologist who collected over 3,000 frog specimens from Brazil in her career! Help us detail her South American discoveries (1962-1963) by transcribing pages of her travelog. The 1962-1963 travelogue documents Doris Cochran's National Science Foundation funded trip to visit museums in South America and collect frog specimens, building on collections she made there in 1935. At the time of her travels, Cochran had already been named the first female curator for the Division of Reptiles and Amphibians of the United States National Museum; she was the Division supervisor until just following this trip. This travelogue includes summary of events, itinerary, and narrative entries on her daily activities. Narrative entries include description of surrounding flora and fauna and references to specific collections of herpetological specimens collected.
On this trip, Cochran visited locations that include Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo in Brazil, Bogota in Colombia, Isla Barro Colorado (Barro Colorado Island) in Panama, Argentina, Peru, and several other places. It is believed Cochran was accompanied by and visited with other female scientists including entymologist Doris Holmes Blake and Brazilian herpetologist Bertha Lutz. Communications with noted herpetologist, Adolpho Lutz—Bertha's father—are also described in the travelogue. These and other field books and notes belonging to Doris Cochran are held with the Smithsonian Institution Archives.
Learn more about the weather, activities, and discoveries Doris Cochran made in South America by transcribing and describing her notes from her 1962-1963 travelogue. If you'd like to learn more about Cochran's scientific contributions—she also studied crab and was a scientific illustrator—you can explore her work through the Smithsonian Institution Archives.
