Steingraber, Sandra

Advocate, author, scientist, poet, and teacher, Sandra Steingraber drew on her personal experience as a cancer survivor along with her advanced knowledge of ecology to study how harmful toxins in the environment can lead to cancer. In her nationally acclaimed book, Living Downstream: An Ecologist's Personal Investigation of Cancer and the Environment, Sandra explains the importance of maintaining a healthy environment in order to prevent diseases such as cancer. With the success of Living Downstream, Steingraber became one of the leading advocates for educating society about how the environment affects our health. Throughout the past decade, she has spoken at many colleges, universities, and health conferences in the United States and Canada conveying her message. She is also the author of Having Faith: An Ecologist's Journey to Motherhood, and Post Diagnosis, a collection of her poetry. Steingraber received her undergraduate degree in Biology from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1981. She later received her master's degree in English from Illinois State University and her PhD in Biological Sciences from the University of Michigan.