Rachel Carson was a biologist, writer, and conservationist.  She is credited for initiating the contemporary environmental movement with her 1962 book Silent Spring which warned of the negative impact that dangerous chemical pesticides have on the environment.  While the book primarily details the effects of pesticides on ecosystems, several chapters also highlight the impact on human life, including as a cause for cancer.  As a result of her findings, chemical companies targeted her with attempts to discredit her, calling her hysterical and accusing her of being a Communist.

Through its publication, Silent Spring brought environmental concerns to a wider American audience than ever before. Its popularity and the hard questions Carson brought to the forefront through her research contributed to the eventual ban of DDT and other pesticides, as well as the grassroots movement that led to the creation of the US Environmental Protection Agency. 

Prior to the publication of Silent Spring, she was a marine scientist working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Washington, DC as a writer and editor.  She was the second woman ever hired by the Bureau of Fisheries.  She became a trusted voice in marine biology writing with books including Under the Sea Wind (1941) and The Sea Around Us (1951).  Through her writing, she made sea life and environmental biology more accessible than ever before.

During her career, Carson was recognized with many awards, including medals from the National Audubon Society and the American Geographical Society, and induction into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Jimmy Carter. In 1973, she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall Of Fame.

Through its publication, Silent Spring brought environmental concerns to a wider American audience than ever before. Its popularity and the hard questions Carson brought to the forefront through her research contributed to the eventual ban of DDT and other pesticides, as well as the grassroots movement that led to the creation of the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Prior to the publication of Silent Spring, she was a marine scientist working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Washington, DC as a writer and editor.  She was the second woman ever hired by the Bureau of Fisheries.  She became a trusted voice in marine biology writing with books including Under the Sea Wind (1941) and The Sea Around Us (1951).  Through her writing, she made sea life and environmental biology more accessible than ever before.

During her career, Carson was recognized with many awards, including medals from the National Audubon Society and the American Geographical Society, and induction into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Jimmy Carter. In 1973, she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall Of Fame.

🐟 Silent Spring, in addition to helping to launch the modern environmental movement, eventually came to inspire the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1970. 

🌿 In one of her last public appearances, Carson testified before the Science Advisory Committee, who issued a report that largely backed her findings.

🏆 By 1972, the US Environmental Defense Fund had secured a national phase-out of DDT - the highly toxic pesticide that Carson highlights in Silent Spring.