Sandra Steingraber, PhD

Professor, Cornell University

Ecologist, author, and cancer survivor, Sandra Steingraber, Ph.D. is an internationally recognized expert on the environmental links to cancer and reproductive health. She received her doctorate in biology from the University of Michigan and master’s degree in English from Illinois State University. An enthusiastic and sought-after public speaker, 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 teaching hospitals—including Harvard, Yale, Cornell, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. She is recognized for her ability to serve as a two-way translator between scientists and activists. Formerly on faculty at Cornell University, Sandra Steingraber is currently Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York. She is married to sculptor Jeff de Castro. They are proud parents of five-year-old Faith and two-year-old Elijah.

"It's often said that children, pound for pound, eat more food, drink more water, and breathe more air than adults. That's all true. Biologically speaking, our growing children are more ecological than we are: they are more vigorous participants in the food chain; they are more integrally involved with the world's water cycle; they are more deeply dependent on planetary oxygen supplies. Other than the chromosomes we bequeathed them at conception, our children ARE rearranged molecules of air, food and water. Their bodies and minds are knitted together from the environment. What we need now are public policies that reflect these scientific realities. It is right that we should say "Healthy Child Healthy World" in the same breath. It's a banner under which I'm pleased to labor."

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