Best selling author, scientist, and conservationist Rachel Carson was an unlikely individual to become the spark that ignited the environmental movement of today.

In an online talk set for 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 25, Barbara St. John Vickery will explain how this shy, retiring, and humble person who lacked the usual scientific credentials, would later become recognized as a major force in national scientific debates, according to a news release from Shannon Gilmore with the Lincoln County Historical Association.

The talk is hosted by the association and the Old Bristol Historical Society.

Vickery will discuss Carson’s ties to Lincoln County and the role of her writings in the growth of the environmental movement. She will suggest ways in which Carson’s work can inform current debates on climate and conservation and answer many questions about one of the region’s most influential figures.

Vickery, a rare plant botanist, joined the staff of The Nature Conservancy Maine in 1983 as director of Science and Stewardship. She later served as director of Conservation Programs until her retirement in 2017. After the death her husband, Peter Vickery, she worked with a team to edit his life work, “Birds of Maine,” which was published in 2020.

Vickery serves on the Maine Board of Environmental Protection and the board of the Forest Society of Maine, is a member of the Citizen’s Climate Lobby, Midcoast Maine chapter, and is a member of six local organizations whose trails she uses regularly, including the trails at Lincoln County Historical Association’s Pownalborough Court House across the Kennebec from her home in Richmond.

The talk is free, but registration is required. To register, visit lincolncountyhistory.org.

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