Rachel Louise Carson (1907–1964)
Marine Biologist & Nature Writer

Although she is one of the most admired nature writers of the 20th century, Rachel Carson is best known for her groundbreaking campaign to prevent the use of harmful pesticides.

An avid reader and writer from early childhood, Carson was drawn to stories about nature. After earning a master’s degree in zoology from Johns Hopkins University in 1932, Carson’s further education was sidelined during the Great Depression. She accepted a part-time position at the US Bureau of Fisheries (BOF) that included writing copy for an educational radio series on aquatic life. Recognizing her dual talents, the bureau offered her permanent work as an aquatic biologist and reporter. Carson’s reputation grew with the 1941 publication of her first book, Under the Sea Wind. By 1949, she had become the chief of publications at the BOF, later rechristened the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Her second book provided the financial success she needed to make the transition to writing full- time. Published in 1951, The Sea Around Us remained on The New York Times best-seller list for 86 weeks and won the National Book Award for Nonfiction.

By 1957, Carson’s focus had shifted to conservation. She had been researching the harmful effects of pesticides for many years and began closely monitoring federal spraying programs designed to exterminate pests. She questioned the decisions that government and business were making for the health of the country in The Silent Spring, published in 1962 to controversial reviews. Chemical companies fiercely attacked her claim that synthetic pesticides were workling their way up the food chain to the detriment of mankind; however, many scientists defended her position and public opinion gradually moved in her direction.

Carson died just two years later, but lived long enough to see a fledgling environmental movement take root. Today the powerful narrative of The Silent Spring is often cited as a spur for the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and continuing efforts to ban pesticides.

In 1980, Rachel Carson was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.