Rachel Carson (Springdale, 1907 – Silver Spring ,1964) was a marine biologist and conservationist. Her writings were the start of the green movement. She studied the contamination of synthetic pesticides and published Silent Spring, arousing concerns for the environment. The Scientific Committee under President Kennedy pushed through a change in US policy on pesticides. Some official authorities and people from the chemical industry accused her of being a communist. She was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Jimmy Carter.