Katharine Foot

Katharine Foot (October 14, 1852 – 1944) was an American zoologist and cell biologist who, with the help of her lab partner Ella Church Strobell, developed new techniques for making microscope samples and for taking micrographs of cells.

Foot was born in Geneva, New York in 1852 and had no formal education. At age 40, she received training at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Foot was also a member of the New York women's club Sorosis and president of the Washington auxiliary of the Women's National Indian Association, an organization that lobbied on behalf of Native Americans. Thomas Hunt Morgan considered her a significant contributor to the emerging field of genetics and, in 1906, she was included in the list of 1,000 most important scientists in the United States in American Men of Science. She was also the first woman to give a lecture at the Marine Biological Laboratory.

Under the instruction of Charles Otis Whitman, Foot researched the fertilization and maturation process of the egg of the earthworm. Foot and Strobell were among the first to photograph the development stages of fertilized eggs and together researched the role of chromosomes in hereditary, sex-linked characteristics. Additionally, they developed a technique for creating samples at low temperatures for viewing under the microscope. Foot went on to volunteer for the American Red Cross in Paris, researching the life cycle of the louse to develop a method of control.