October 5, 2015

wildlife populations in the Chernobyl exclusion zone

The first large scale study of mammal populations in the 4,200 square kilometre human exclusion zone around Chernobyl has been completed by scientists. The zone was exposed to chronic radiation following the 1986 accident; nearly 30 years later, researchers have accurate data on the dual impacts on mammal populations of a radioactive environment and the exclusion of humans.

Three of the authors came to the SMC, all of which have extensive knowledge of the Chernobyl disaster and the impacts of radiation on the environment, including one from Fukushima University.

Speakers:

Prof. Jim Smith, Professor of Environmental Science at the University of Portsmouth

Prof. Tom Hinton, Institute of Environmental Radioactivity, Fukushima University, Japan

Dr Jim Beasley, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, US