Today we introduce something truly special but before that, I just have to note that I’ve learned that This Moment on Earth is #8 on The New York Times best seller list for the week ending May 6th. Congratulations!

Some of the members of the JK blog community took on a special project: that of interviewing 2 of the new environmental heroes presented in This Moment on Earth and creating videos to share those interviews. And today we have the honor to present the first of two videos that they’ve created.

In this first interview, Kerstin Levenson talks with Dr. Julia Brody, executive director of the Silent Spring Institute. Terri Buchman introduces the video below. And globalvillage aka GV on the johnkerry.com blog, did the post-production work.

Thanks to a remarkable team of volunteers for developing and sharing this with us.

– - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - –   JK Bloggers Interview Dr. Julia Brody

 

Interview Notes by Terri Buchman

We arrived at the Newton offices of the Silent Spring Institute and were warmly greeted by Dr. Julia Brody and shown into her office. We got a chance to chat as we set up the video equipment and to get to know this accomplished and dedicated woman a little bit more. It was a real treat to talk to someone with such an obvious devotion to her work. This was a warm and friendly interview with a fascinating woman and a chance to discuss the findings in Massachusetts and how those findings are being put to use in informing the public about some of the suspected causes of various cancers, including breast cancer.

Dr. Brody is justifiably proud of the website for the Institute, www.silentspring.org, which is well-organized and easy to use. There is a graphic on the SSI website that really shows the main focus of this group and also indicates the incredible amount of research work that has been done.

This section allows a reader to enter a town in Massachusetts and see where higher than average clusters of breast cancer appear. Or the reader can select a graphic view of a history of pesticide spraying and see if those areas are experiencing higher than expected levels of illness. This section is very much a work-in-progress and the Institute hopes to have data of this kind soon for every community in Massachusetts.

The website also contains a great section of recent research updates, ideas for getting involved and making some noise about suspected environmental concerns and health, and a great tip sheet on what people can do to reduce their everyday risk exposure to environmental pollutants.

Thank you to Dr. Brody for her work, her incredible devotion to this cause and for her warm welcome and her most valuable time in giving us this interview. It was so gratifying as a descendant of multiple generations of Massachusetts women, to personally thank Dr. Brody for her work that will benefit not just my own and my daughters’ generations but the generations to come as well. It was an honor and a privilege to meet one of the heroes from This Moment on Earth. <!-more-> – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - –

Check back here tomorrow for the second interview with Cheryl Osimo, one of the founders of the Silent Spring Institute.

And thanks again to JK and THK for bringing the people of Silent Spring Institute to our attention through This Moment on Earth and to our JK community bloggers, Terri Buchman, Kerstin Levenson and globalvillage for their work in creating these videos.