Helen Beulah Thompson Gaige

Who was Helen Beulah Thompson Gaige?

Helen Beulah Thompson Gaige was an American herpetologist, curator of Reptiles and Amphibians for the Museum of Zoology at the University of Michigan and specialist in neotropical frogs.

Gaige studied at the University of Michigan with Frank Nelson Blanchard, under professor Alexander Grant Ruthven. From 1910 until 1923 she was an assistant curator of reptiles and amphibians for the Museum of Zoology at the University of Michigan. In 1923 she became curator of amphibians. In 1928, she co-authored The Herpetology of Michigan with Ruthven. In 1937 she became editor in chief of the ichthyological and herpetological periodical Copeia, and wrote extensively on the Central American amphibians and reptiles. Her research chiefly concerned the geographical distribution, habitats and life histories of amphibians. She also assisted in organizing the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, of which she was named honorary president in 1946.