The publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring in 1962 is recognized as one of the most important books of the 20th century and the seminal work that helped launch the environmental movement in the United States and even worldwide. What is not so widely known is how much the research and discoveries of a Michigan State University professor, George J. Wallace, provided evidence necessary for the scientific conclusions contained in Carson's landmark title.

During walks on the North Campus of, then, Michigan State College in the spring of 1955, Wallace noticed a die-off of robins. By 1958, robins had been eliminated from the main campus and portions of East Lansing. Other small birds also were affected, though to a lesser degree. Data generated by Wallace helped illustrate a tie between the deaths and the application of the pesticide DDT to control elm bark beetles and mosquitoes on campus. Wallace's work had to endure challenges not only from the chemical industry, but also from agricultural interests and even some academics.

A native of Vermont, Wallace held B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Michigan, and worked for the Vermont Fish and Game Service and the former Michigan Department of Conservation before being hired as an instructor at Michigan State College. He retired from MSU in 1972, then published an autobiography, My World of Birds: Memoirs of an Ornithologist, in 1979. In it, he wrote of his "lifelong experiences with birds-boyhood's ceaseless quest for new species, academic training during the university years, nearly half a century trying to instill acquired knowledge into others, and travels to far off places to seek more background. Birds have been my main obsession." In 1986, at the age of 79, Wallace passed away in his East Lansing home.

To discover more visit the following web sites:

Breaking the 'Silence' (EJ Magazine)

George J. Wallace (The Great Lakes Wiki)

In Memoriam: George J. Wallace (John William Hardy, Florida State Museum, University of Florida)