Rachel Louise Carson and Margaret Robb

Rachel Louise Carson (1907 – 1964) was an American marine biologist, whose writings are credited with advancing the global environmental movement. She taught zoology at the University of Maryland (1931 to 1936) and worked as an aquatic biologist at the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries and its successor, the Fish and Wildlife Service, from 1936 to 1952. She received the 1952 National Book Award for her The Sea Around Us (1951). She is best known for Silent Spring (1952), which examines the environmental damage caused by chemical pesticides. Among her works are: Under the Sea Wind, 1941; The Sea Around Us, 1951; The Edge of the Sea, 1955; Silent Spring, 1962 (initial publication, serialized in the New Yorker, June 16, June 23, and June 30, 1962); and The Sense of Wonder, 1965 (published posthumously).

Begun in 1930, the Writers' Conference was held during the summers at the University of Colorado, Boulder, as part of the Summer School program. The conference was established to provide professional training by experienced writers. Margaret Robb, who taught English and sponsored Associated Women Students at the University of Colorado, Boulder, directed the summer Writers' Conference. Robb was a recipient of the University of Colorado's Robert L. Stearns Award (awarded yearly for extraordinary achievement or service) in 1967.