Ephraim Laurence Palmer (July 8, 1888 – December 18, 1970) was an American science educator and conservationist.

He attended Cortland State Normal School, and in 1908 enrolled in Cornell University, graduating with an A.B.

He taught at Iowa State Teachers College before returning to Cornell to earn a PhD in systematic botany in 1917.

[2] The couple had two children, however their eldest son Laurence Van Winkle Palmer (born 1923), nicknamed "Punky", contracted a Streptococcus infection at the age of 4 which eventually took his life at the age of 17.

[4][5] Their younger son Richard Robert Palmer (born 1930), also known as "Robin", would later join the Weather Underground and served time in prison for attempting to firebomb a bank in New York City.