Living Downstream: A Scientist's Personal Investigation of Cancer and the Environment

Sandra Steingraber is a biologist, environmental activist, professor, and cancer survivor from Tazewell County, Illinois. She was diagnosed with bladder cancer in her twenties while attending college at Illinois Wesleyan University but continued pursuing her degree once the cancer went into remission. She earned her doctorate in biology from the University of Michigan and is the author of the 1997 book Living Downstream: An Ecologist Looks at Cancer and the Environment. The book documents her research on the links between environmental contamination and cancer as well as her personal battle with bladder cancer. She also authored the 2001 book Having Faith: An Ecologist’s Journey to Motherhood.

The book’s popularity resulted in an updated edition, published in 2010, and has influenced documentaries, including one by The People’s Picture Company that traces her cancer battle and activist work. Steingraber was the subject of a 2018 documentary titled Unfractured and the 2020 film Living Downstream. A regular keynote speaker at environmental and health conferences throughout the US and Canada, Steingraber has been invited to speak at several medical schools and hospitals and is a columnist for Orion magazine.