Email Interview with Dr.

Mark Madison- February 4th, 2015

Interviewer: What made Rachel Carson so controversial in the
scientific world?
Madison: Chemicals were big business and science helped win WW2.
Carson called into question both of these major industries.
Interviewer: Before Rachel Carson, what was the role of DDT in the
American household?
Madison: It was used everywhere in schools, pools, picnic grounds,
painted on houses. This toxin was used indiscriminately in large
quantities proving lethal to much wildlife.
Interviewer: How did Rachel Carson impact the environmental
movement? Did it begin because of her work?
Madison: It did. Carson transformed the focus from game species and
charismatic animals to a new environmental focus on toxins and the
human impact on nature that marked the modern environmental
movement.
Interviewer: Would the impacts of Rachel Carsons work have been
different had she been a male scientist?
Madison: She still would have been attacked but in less gendered
terms. She would not have inspired a generation of young women to
study biology had she not been a pioneering woman biologist.
Interviewer: What was the impact of President Kennedys report on
pesticides?
Madison: It brought it to the attention of the nation and mobilized the
federal government to attack this issue.

Interviewer: Today, how are environmentalist groups continuing

Rachel Carson's legacy?
Madison: Many continue to work on endangered species, toxins, and
human impacts. A group called the Rachel Carson Council works to
limit dangerous chemicals in the environment.
Interviewer: How was Carson considered a leader in the
environmental movement?
Madison: She gave a voice to new issues arising in the 1950s and
1960s. She showed that women (half our population) have
important/critical contributions to make to our environmental debate.
She was a passionate voice for our voiceless wildlife.