Internationally Renowned Expert on Cancer and the Environment to Speak at W&J

Dr. Sandra Steingraber, ecologist, poet, writer and cancer survivor, will lecture at Washington & Jefferson College’s Olin Fine Arts Center at 7 p.m. April 24—just a short drive from Canonsburg, Cecil and North Strabane.

An expert on environmental pollution and its link to cancer, Steingraber rose to national prominence with her best-selling 1997 book "Living Downstream: An Ecologist's Personal Investigation of Cancer and the Environment," which has recently been updated (2010) and adapted into a motion picture of the same title.

She has also written "Having Faith: An Ecologist's Journey to Motherhood" (2003) and "Raising Elijah: Protecting Children in an Age of Environmental Crisis" (2011), exploring the impact of environmental toxins during human fetal development and childhood. Her most recent work includes lead authorship of an open letter, “Appeal to Governor Cuomo to Consider Cancer Risks Re: High Volume Hydraulic Fracturing for Natural Gas.”

Steingraber has keynoted conferences on human health and the environment throughout the United States and Canada and has been invited to lecture at many universities, medical schools, and hospitals—including Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Columbia, and the Woods Hole Research Center. She is recognized for her ability to serve as a two-way translator between scientists and activists.  She has testified in the European Parliament, before the President’s Cancer Panel, and has participated in briefings to Congress and before United Nations delegates in Geneva, Switzerland. 

“Dr. Steingraber is an internationally-recognized expert on the connection between environmental pollutants and cancer, a topic of great importance to our area,” said Dr. Candy DeBerry, associate professor of biology at W&J. “It is a pleasure to welcome her to campus to give people in this region an opportunity to learn and benefit from her expertise.”

Called “the new Rachel Carson” by Sierra magazine, Steingraber is the recipient of numerous awards for her work as a writer, scientist, and human rights activist, including a Heinz Award in November 2011 as an individual “whose remarkable mix of vision, creativity and passion has produced significant achievements benefitting the environment.”

Steingraber, who will sign copies of her book following the presentation, is a distinguished scholar in residence at Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York.

The event is free and open to the public.