Rachel Carson Antiforestation Research Paper

Anti-Deforestation’s Effects on the American
Environmentalism Movement

Rachel Carson began her scientific and environmental career at John Hopkins University. Her talent for writing led her to enroll at Pennsylvania College for Women as an English major. However, when her biology professor noticed her unique drive for biology she recommended she switch majors and focus on scientific research. After switching her major, John Hopkins University noticed her unprecedented work in the field and offered Carson a full academic scholarship to the school.10 She worked hard at the university and in 1932 she graduated with masters degree in biology. Carson took on jobs after college solely for money because of her need to support her family,

but at the same time wrote articles for magazines on natural history and conservation. Rachel Carson’s research took at sharp change in focus when, “a friend wrote a letter telling her how DDT had been sprayed in their community to kill mosquitoes. She found seven songbirds dead in her yard.”9 She devoted her following years into becoming an activist for the conservationist community while at the same time composing different writings about the harmful effects of pesticides on the planets plants and animals. The culmination of Carson’s work was her best selling book “Silent Spring”. In one section of the book Rachel discusses the effect of pesticides on elm trees. In the 1950’s there was an epidemic of beetles plaguing the elm trees of Greenwich, Ct and the spraying of pesticides only made it worse.