Sandra Steingraber

Infobox Writer


imagesize = 150px
name = Sandra Steingraber
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pseudonym =
birthdate = 1959
birthplace = Tazewell County, Illinois, United States
deathdate =
deathplace =
occupation = Biologist, science writer
nationality = American
period = 1996 to the present
genre =
subject = ecology, cancer, fertility, pregnancy, toxicology
movement =
notableworks = Living Downstream
influences = Rachel Carson, Natalie Angier
influenced = Marla Cone
website = http://www.steingraber.com

Sandra Steingraber (born 1959) is an American biologist and author in the tradition of Rachel Carson. Steingraber writes and lectures on the environmental factors that contribute to reproductive health problems and cancer.

Biography

Steingraber was adopted as an infant, and she grew up in Tazewell County, Illinois. Her mother was a microbiologist and her father was a community college teacher. [cite book | author= Sandra Steingraber | title=Having Faith: an Ecologist's Journey to Motherhood | year=2001 | publisher=Perseus] Her parents inculcated in her an interest in sustainable development and organic agriculture from a young age. [cite web | title=The Ecology of Pizza | author=Sandra Steingraber|url=http://www.theorganicreport.com/pages/318_the_ecology_of_pizza_entire_19_pages_.cfm| accessdate=2006-08-31]

In her 20s, Steingraber developed bladder cancer. She was not alone; in several of her books, she describes an apparent cancer cluster in her hometown. [cite book | author= Sandra Steingraber | title=Living Downstream: an Ecologist Looks at Cancer and the Environment | year=1997 | publisher=Addison-Wesley]

After her cancer went into remission, Steingraber completed her undergraduate degree in biology from Illinois Wesleyan University. She worked for several years as a field researcher, eventually earning her doctorate in biology from the University of Michigan. Steingraber also holds a master's degree in English from Illinois State University.

Steingraber now teaches at Ithaca College, located in Ithaca, New York. She lives in Trumansburg, New York with her husband Jeff de Castro, a sculptor and art restoration specialist, and their two children.

Awards and Honors

* 1997 - named a Ms. Magazine Woman of the Year
* 1998 - first annual Altman Award for “the inspiring and poetic use of science to elucidate the causes of cancer,” from the Jenifer Altman Foundation
* 1998 - Will Solimene Award for “excellence in medical communication” from the New England chapter of the American Medical Writers Association
* 2001 - biennial Rachel Carson Leadership Award from Chatham College, Rachel Carson’s alma mater.

Books by Steingraber

* "The Spoils of Famine: Ethiopian Famine Policy and Peasant Agriculture (Cultural Survival Report 25)" (1988, co-author), which raised issues of ecology and human rights in Africa.
* "Post-diagnosis" (1995), a volume of poetry on living with cancer.
* "Living Downstream: An Ecologist Looks at Cancer and the Environment" (1997), which proposed a relationship between cancer registry data and Toxics Release Inventory data.
* "Having Faith: An Ecologist’s Journey to Motherhood" (2001), which explored fetal toxicology and genetics with respect to Steingraber's own pregnancy.

Living Downstream

In "Living Downstream", Steingraber talks about how much pesticide was applied to Illinois farmland each year.

"To the 89 percent of Illinois that is farmland, an estimated 54 million pounds of synthetic pesticides are applied each year. Introduced into Illinois at the end of World War II, these chemical poisons quietly familiarized themselves with the landscape. In 1950, less than 10 percent of cornfields were sprayed with pesticides. In 1993, 99 percent were chemically treated," (page 5).

Living Downstream is being made into a documentary [http://www.theppcinc.com/projects/livingdownstream/index.html movie] .

References