First, the tadpoles and frogs disappeared; then the bats and the songbirds left. Elizabeth Hilborn, a honey bee veterinarian and environmental health scientist, soon realized the bees—the vital pollinators of fruits, plants, and vegetables—were dying. Everything was still and silent. In 2017, after a large flood, most of the teeming life on her beloved family farm in North Carolina had vanished in a matter of weeks. As a scientist and a naturalist, Hilborn set about to get answers. Her new book RESTORING EDEN: Unearthing the Agribusiness Secret That Poisoned My Farm Community tells this story.
Dr. Elizabeth D. Hilborn is a veterinarian, a honeybee specialist, and a senior environmental health scientist at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She worked as a disease detective with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She’s spoken to audiences worldwide and published more than sixty scientific articles about the effects of pollution on human and animal health, and her work appears in public health, medical, and environmental health journals. She lives with her family and grows fruits and vegetables on their farm in North Carolina.
