Henry J. Oosting (March 12, 1903 – October 30, 1968) was an American ecologist and professor. He was born in Holland, Michigan. Oosting attended Michigan State University, where he received the M.S. degree in 1927, then studied with W.S. Cooper at the University of Minnesota, receiving his Ph.D. in Botany in 1931, among other notable Cooper students including Murray Fife Buell, , and Frank Edwin Egler. In 1932, Oosting began his career at Duke University as ecologist in the Department of Botany.