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Chase was born in Iroquois County, Illinois. Despite having no formal education beyond grammar school, she made significant contribution to the scientific understanding of grasses and authored over 70 publications. She specialized in the study of grasses and conducted extensive field work in South America, often personally funding her research trips, as it was considered inappropriate for women to conduct such work. Chase joined the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1903 as a botanical illustrator and eventually became Scientific Assistant in Systematic Agrostology, 1907, working for Albert Spear Hitchcock. She began a long and productive career collaborating closely with Hitchcock, publishing with him in 1910 The North American Species of Panicum. Chase rose to become Assistant Botanist, 1923; and Associate Botanist, 1925. After Hitchcock's death in 1935, she succeeded him and became Principal Botanist in charge of Systematic Agrostology and Custodian of the Section of Grasses, Division of Plants, United States National Museum. She retired in 1939 but continued her work at the Smithsonian grass herbarium until her death in 1963.

Chase authored over 70 publications, including