It has been more than 50 years since
Rachel Carson published her groundbreaking book "Silent Spring".
Derided by scientists at the time, she is now regarded as a hero by environmental
progressives and a villain by many others, but Carson certainly changed how the
public views environmentalism.
One area of Carson's career that is
often overlooked is her time as a government employee. This is where she got
her true start in journalism and it is the area G. Pascal Zachary, professor of
practice with the Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes at Arizona State
University, will be discussing at the 2013 American Association for the
Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting in Boston. Zachary is part of the
panel, A 50 Year Legacy: Why does Rachel Carson Matter?
Zachary, who co-organized the panel
along with ASU professor Jane Maienschein, gave his talk, "Back to the
Future: The Rachel Carson 'Model' as a Response to the Crisis in Science
Journalism," today (Feb. 17).
"At a time when popular writers
wanted to write about serious subjects and devote themselves to learning, there
was little support for them commercially," Zachary said on Carson and her
early career. "I'm intrigued about how her career suggests a way forward
for government to support serious writing and journalism about science and the
environment."
Carson served as an information officer
with the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries and the Fish and Wildlife Service for nearly
two decades before becoming an independent writer. During that time, she
reported on news and findings from the agency.
Zachary believes Carson's experience
and work in this field is what shaped her later writings. Additionally, he saw
her early government work as an opportunity. With publications such as the New
York Times recently disposing of their environmental desk, Zachary thinks the
format of having government employees writing about science could be the way of
the future.
"I'm trying to see Rachel Carson
in both a historical sense and prefiguring and anticipating a movement that
will reform or revolutionize science journalism today," Zachary said.
"When I talk about her as a model
for the crisis in science journalism, what I mean is currently there is less
and less quality science journalism," he added. "As a community, we
have to figure out how to draw the line and get a minimal amount of quality
science journalism."
