Mary Talbot (1903 – 1990) was a pioneering ecologist and entomologist. Her diligent work on ants yielded dozens of papers that laid the groundwork for exploring many of the important questions in population and community ecology, behavior, and natural history. Her work has arguably not received the notoriety deserved, however, she is still an inspiration for young academics, especially women. In this session we reflect on and celebrate the life and accomplishments of an under-appreciated ecologist, Mary Talbot. We discuss how work like Mary’s, grounded in natural history and observation, is important in frontier research in ecology.