MARCH IS WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH, AND THIS MONTH
WE ARE PROUD TO SALUTE BIOLOGIST, WRITER,
AND CONSERVATIONIST RACHEL CARSON.
BORN IN RURAL PENNSYLVANIA IN 1907, CARSON
DEVELOPED A PASSION FOR THE OUTDOORS AND NATURE
AT AN EARLY AGE, AND HONED THAT PASSION DURING
HER STUDIES AT PENNSYLVANIA COLLEGE, AND LATER
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY.
HER LONG ASSOCIATION WITH ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP
BEGAN IN 1935, WITH WHAT WAS THEN THE BUREAU
OF FISHERIES, NOW THE U-S FISH AND WILDLIFE
SERVICE, WHERE SHE WROTE OF THE NEED TO CONSIDER
THE WELFARE OF THE "FISH, AS WELL AS THE FISHERMAN."
ALREADY ACCLAIMED AS AN AUTHOR AND NATURALIST
BY THE MID-20TH CENTURY, IT WAS THE PUBLICATION
OF *SILENT SPRING* IN 1962, AND ITS WARNINGS
ABOUT THE DANGERS OF MISUSING CERTAIN PESTICIDES,
THAT WOULD MAKE CARSON THE CONSCIENCE OF THE
CONSERVATION MOVEMENT.
SHE DIED FROM CANCER IN 1964, JUST TWO YEARS
AFTER SILENT SPRING, BUT HER WORK HAS INSPIRED
GENERATIONS OF YOUNG PEOPLE SINCE...
TODAY A WILDLIFE REFUGE IN MAINE, NOT FAR
FROM CARSON'S SUMMER HOME, BEARS HER NAME
AND HONORS A LEGACY THAT WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN.
