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Written by Hazel Quarterman and Katrina Ford Invasive species management is expensive and a growing global issue. According to a new report by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, more than 37,000 plants and animals are in places they do not belong, costing an estimated $423 billion annually. In Guam, there are many invasive species, including the brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis), the ...

A look at wildlife movement patterns in African Carnivores by Katrina M. Ford A portion of the 512 mile fence surrounding Etosha National Park in Etosha Namibia. (Photo curtesy of James Beasley) How do fences affect wildlife movement patterns? This question has been trending in wildlife management for decades. From mountain lions in Los Angeles crossing freeways to fences in our own backyards repelling deer, ...

A happy ending for baby turtles, a victory for partnerships in action Staff from across the University of Georgia Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, South Carolina Department of Natural Resource, USDA Forest Service - Savannah River, and the Riverbanks Zoo and Garden, gather at the Savannah River Site to release juvenile eastern box turtles. (Photo/Amanda Hurst) AIKEN, SOUTH CAROLINA, July 27, 2023 – The University of ...

Slither, hop, or soar into SREL’s premier event! AIKEN, SOUTH CAROLINA, July 11, 2023 – The University of Georgia Savannah River Ecology Laboratory is hosting, for the first time in four years, Science Saturday (formerly Touch an Animal Day) on Saturday, July 15, 2023. This event will be held at South Aiken High School from 10 AM – 1 PM.  Attendees will have the opportunity ...

Capstone event marks end of school program Aiken, S.C., June 26, 2023 – The University of Georgia Savannah River Ecology Laboratory lauds pollinators with the final celebration of the “Let’s Grow Together” program through a partnership with the US Forest Service - Savannah River. This big bash focused on all things pollinators will be held at the SREL Conference Center on Friday, June 30, 2023, ...

The University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory has hired Katrina Ford to serve as its first director for outreach and education. Ford will oversee outreach and public relations staff at SREL and expand the lab’s educational programs. For the past eight years, Ford worked with the public library system in Anaheim, California where she launched award-winning STEM and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and ...

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Four faculty have joined the staff of the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory near Aiken, South Carolina. Avishek Dutta, Brennan O. Ferguson, Daniel Kaplan and Daniel A.H. Peach will expand the SREL’s research, graduate education program and external research partnerships. Dutta and Ferguson are in the Department of Geology at the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. Peach is faculty in the Department ...

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The University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory will host the Environmental Education Association of South Carolina’s annual conference at the UGA SREL Conference Center from June 9-11. A non-profit organization, EEASC, invites teachers and environmental educators to attend their professional development conference. The conference is for anyone who teaches others about environmental stewardship, including classroom teachers and informal educators, like park rangers and nature ...

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By P.J. Perea For over five years, SREL was fortunate to have Guha Dharmarajan, an expert in disease ecology, on its faculty. As the year 2021 counted down, Dharmarajan, who was an assistant research scientist at the lab, packed up his office and his belongings to head home to India. Impact in the lab and in the field Dharmarajan investigated vector-borne diseases. He examined the ...

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The U.S. Department of Energy has renewed its cooperative agreement with the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory for an additional five years at a projected total contract value of $34 million. SREL serves as a scientific partner and independent evaluator of environmental consequences of DOE activities on the Savannah River Site. SREL is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year as DOE’s onsite partner at SRS, and SREL scientists have been ...

By Olin “Gene” Rhodes,  Director National Nuclear Science Week is a great time to reflect on the future of research at the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (SREL) and the endless potential that the coming years will present. In June 2021, SREL celebrated its 70th anniversary. This milestone was marked with the release of a great anniversary video, produced with the assistance of ...

Human-altered landscapes often bring hardships for wildlife—unless you’re a vulture, according to a new study by University of Georgia researchers. Since the late 1960s, researchers have noted a consistent increase in black vulture and turkey vulture populations across most of their North and South American ranges. While conservation legislation has certainly played a role, this rise is also attributed to better roosting conditions resulting from human-modified landscapes, ...

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Laura Kojima, a master’s student at SREL and the Odum School of Ecology, is the recipient of a 2021 National Science Foundation Graduate Research fellowship. The fellowship will provide a stipend for up to three years and additional funds to directly support her research.“Receiving this fellowship is a huge honor, especially as an underrepresented minority in STEM. The process of grant writing and conducting my ...

Researchers placed tiny GPS trackers on rat snakes to track their movements at Fukushima ...

Seventy years ago today, Eugene Odum, a zoology professor at the University of Georgia, stepped onto the large landmass of contiguous, agricultural fields allocated for the development of the Savannah River Plant. With foresight and a focus on environmental stewardship, the Atomic Energy Commission, known as the AEC, charged Odum with the task of conducting ecological surveys of the plants and animals before the plant’s ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  Media Advisory:   Anniversary event will feature premiere of video describing Lab’s history & impact       The laboratory that brings you Touch an Animal Day invites you to learn more about its impact on the SRS  What: SREL Celebrates 70 years of environmental stewardship   When: Wednesday, June 23 at 10 a.m.     Where: The SRS Museum, 224 Lauren Street, SW, Aiken, South Carolina     On Wednesday, June 23, the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory celebrates ...

The snakes tested recently show a significant drop in this toxic element Mercury has decreased in a creek on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site, according to researchers at the University of Georgia. As reported in a new study published in the journal Environmental Pollution, the team found 70% to 200% less methylmercury in brown watersnakes sampled in 2019 compared to levels in ...

Research from scientists at the University of Georgia revealed that changes in the environment can alter the reliability of a tool widely used to monitor heavy metal contamination in aquatic systems. Diffusive gradients in thin film, known as DGT, has been viewed as an advanced, reliable tool for nearly three decades, facilitating compliance with government regulations that protect ecosystems and human health. But during a ...

A rare study shows how one of Georgia’s barrier islands provides a safe haven for gopher tortoises and gives researchers at the University of Georgia evidence to prove species relocation is an effective conservation tool. Georgia’s state reptile is one of the most threatened vertebrates. Numerous causes include annual low reproduction rates, habitat lost to development, and a vulnerable size prior to maturity that can ...

Behind the myriad of global concerns currently at the forefront for mankind, lies the reality for scientists that radiological contaminants have increased globally. Stark evidence is provided by the abandoned cities forever changed in Chernobyl and Fukushima as a result of nuclear fallout and the billions of dollars spent on the cleanup of legacy waste from nuclear production sites. A few years ago, 60 scientists ...

By Michael Terrazas| Photography Sean Poppy This year the Savannah River Site is celebrating 70 years of operation in South Carolina just across the Savannah River from Augusta, Ga. To commemorate the anniversary, SRS invited site employees to submit photos to document the seven decades since work on the site began. Sean Poppy, outreach program coordinator for UGA’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, submitted this photo taken on the ...

UGA scientists have presented a strong case that the mechanism lies at the intersection of the genome and epigenome What determines the life span of a mouse, alligator, dog or human? A team of scientists at the University of Georgia believes they have new insight into this age-old question. Emily Bertucci and Benjamin B. Parrott, a research team at the Odum School of Ecology and ...

Genetic testing finds heavy metal contamination is also a culprit Antibiotic resistance is an increasing health problem, but new research suggests it is not only caused by the overuse of antibiotics. It’s also caused by pollution. Using a process known as genomic analysis, University of Georgia scientists found a strong correlation between antibiotic resistance and heavy metal contamination in an environment. Jesse C. Thomas IV, ...

A female Virginia opossum sheltered in a tree stump on the Savannah River Site. Photo: David Bernasconi Since 2017, the wild lands of the Savannah River Site have served as a front line in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s fight to eradicate rabies in the nation. Researchers at the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory have been conducting studies focused on the elimination of ...

Aiken, S.C.–A study by University of Georgia researchers indicates that warming temperatures could impact the future of the American alligator and potentially result in its demise. Like all crocodilians, the sex of an alligator’s offspring is determined by the temperature the embryos experience during a critical two-week window of their incubation known as the temperature-sensitive period. Samantha Bock, lead author of the study, analyzed the ...

Wild pigs cause millions of dollars of damage to agriculture industry Invasive wild pigs take a big bite out of farmers’ wallets, causing about $40 million in damages to peanut crops and $61 million to corn crops in 11 states annually. A recent study by University of Georgia researchers reports that the optimum time to prevent potential damage and economic loss from wild pigs is ...

Writer: Beth Gavrilles Contact: Allison Walters Athens, Ga. – Trailblazing ecologist Rebecca R. Sharitz spent almost her entire career at the University of Georgia Savannah River Ecology Laboratory. A world-renowned expert on wetlands with more than 160 peer-reviewed publications to her credit, she was also revered as a teacher and mentor to graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and volunteers.  Sharitz’s husband, Carl Byrne Hatfield, was a ...

by Beth Gavrilles, bethgav@uga.edu Contact: Olin “Gene” Rhodes, rhodes@srel.uga.edu Olin “Gene” Rhodes, a professor in the Odum School of Ecology, has been named a University of Georgia Athletic Association Professor. His appointment was recently approved by the Board of Regents. Rhodes, the director of the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, conducts multidisciplinary research that spans genetics, conservation biology, wildlife ecology and applied ecology, and has produced ...

A recent study conducted by scientists at the University of Georgia provides a bird’s-eye view into the life of two vulture species. Recording nearly 3 million locations using advanced GPS tracking, their results indicate striking differences in how the turkey vulture and the black vulture—who play an important role in reducing the transmission of diseases—use the landscape. Amanda Holland, the lead investigator for the study, ...

Writer: Beth Gavrilles Feb. 5, 2020 Aquatic ecologist Krista Capps, an assistant professor in the Odum School of Ecology and Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, has been awarded a CAREER grant from the National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development program. CAREER grants, which are among the most prestigious given by the NSF, support early-career faculty who exhibit promise as both researchers and teachers, and whose ...

Nearly a decade after the nuclear accident in Fukushima, Japan, researchers from the University of Georgia have found that wildlife populations are abundant in areas void of human life. The camera study, published in the Journal of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, reports that over 267,000 wildlife photos recorded more than 20 species, including wild boar, Japanese hare, macaques, pheasant, fox and the raccoon dog—a ...

If you have the opportunity to visit a nuclear production site, artistic works are probably not what you are expecting to find, but thanks to three scientists at the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, you just might have that chance. Photographs taken by Amanda Hurst, Pacifico Perea and David Scott were among the top 33 selected from 246 entries in a site-wide wall ...

“Increase the size, increase the survival” is the premise behind head-starting—raising an at-risk species in captivity until it is large enough to be less vulnerable to predators after release into the wild. But research conducted by University of Georgia scientists in California’s Mojave Desert reveals larger size alone is not enough to save the desert tortoise from predator attacks. Jacob Daly, first author on the study, ...

The Savannah River Site  is home to a unique aquatic laboratory that raises rapidly-reproducing Japanese fish, known as medaka. Operated by the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory , the facility provides scientists with a rare toxicology tool for assessing the long-term health effects of environmental contaminants on wildlife and humans. “The SREL Medaka Laboratory is a strategic asset for low-dose research in the ...

Horses are using empty structures that were deserted after the 1986 nuclear accident as shelters According to a research team at the University of Georgia, abandoned dwellings in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone provide shelter for an endangered equine species and a resource for conservationists who want to ensure their survival. Peter Schlichting, a former postdoctoral researcher at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, used motion-activated cameras ...

Travis L. DeVault, has joined the leadership team of the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory. He will serve as associate director for research under Olin “Gene” Rhodes Jr., director of SREL. As associate director for research DeVault will be responsible for overseeing research support functions at SREL, including environmental health and safety, analytical services, research permitting and compliance and animal care. He has ...

A team of environmental educators reached over 60,000 individuals last year through an outreach program supported by EM funding at the Savannah River Site . Team members with the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory program educate the public about the animal and plant diversity surrounding the site’s operations and the ecosystem in neighboring communities. Pacifico Perea, the program manager for SREL, said the ...

Amanda Hurst, the outreach educator for UGA’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, coached a team of students to win the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture’s spring Purple Plow Challenge: Protect the Pollinators. The winners, Jasmine Coleman, Tamara Corley, Shawn Butler, Crystasia Williams, Zy’Kesia Johnson, Rayshawn James, Avery Trottie, Gabriel Hosey, Ivan Jamison and Namair Anderson, are middle-school students in the Dreams Imagination & Gift Development ...

Tadpoles can be used to measure the amount of radiocesium, a radioactive material, in aquatic environments, according to new research from University of Georgia scientists. Whether from nuclear accidents, global fallout from weapons testing, or production of nuclear energy, tadpoles could be used to determine the extent and severity of radioactive contamination. James C. Leaphart, lead investigator on the 32-day study, evaluated the rate at ...

Two species of vulture—the turkey vulture and the black vulture—are able to coexist because their respective traits reduce the need for them to compete for nutritional resources, according to a study by University of Georgia researchers. In North America, humans frequently see vultures on the side of the road and view them as wild scavengers. This vantage point doesn’t attribute the species with value. Yet, ...

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Meet Cody Tisdale, a graduate student at the University of Georgia’s Warnell School of Forestry and the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory. Although pig and lamb are the focus of spring palates, Tisdale has his sights on turkeys this season. Aware that turkey hunting season is about to begin in Georgia and South Carolina, he’s seeking samples of turkey breast and leg muscles as well as ...

A recent study conducted by University of Georgia researchers reports amphibians can develop a tolerance to toxic environmental contaminants. Published in a special edition of the journal Aquatic Toxicology, the study’s findings indicate that this tolerance to a specific contaminant develops after previous generations are chronically exposed to the contaminant. According the International Union for Conservation of Nature, 40 percent of the world’s amphibian populations ...

Amanda Hurst has been hired by the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory in the position of animal caretaker and outreach educator. Her primary responsibilities include caring for the animals used in the lab’s outreach education program and assisting with presentations. Hurst previously worked at SREL as a lab technician. Her professional experience includes working for the Coastal Resources Division of the Georgia Department ...

A scavenger study that used fish carcasses as bait provides additional evidence that wildlife is abundant in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, University of Georgia researchers said. A one-month camera study prompted the sighting of 10 mammal and five bird species, according to James Beasley, associate professor at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory and the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources. “These animals were photographed ...

Olin “Gene” Rhodes, a professor in the Odum School of Ecology and director of the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, conducts basic and applied research that informs the management and conservation of wildlife. Where did you earn degrees and what are your current responsibilities at UGA? I received my Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Furman University, my master’s degree in wildlife biology from Clemson University and my ...

During an organism’s development, the conditions of the surrounding natural environment can determine the organism’s traits. A University of Georgia scientist has received nearly $600,000 from the National Science Foundation to investigate the molecular and developmental mechanisms that allow for this plasticity. The three-year, $572,000 grant will allow an SREL research team to study the effects of temperature on alligators’ reproductive development. Parrott said alligators are ...

Dec. 4, 2018 Sean Poppy, outreach program coordinator at the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, has been awarded the South Carolina Environmental Awareness Award. David Wilson, the acting director of the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, presented the award to Poppy at a recent ceremony in Columbia, South Carolina. Established in 1992 by the South Carolina General Assembly, the award recognizes ...

In teaching the concepts of wildlife ecology, James Beasley covers a lot of ground both literally and figuratively. Based at the U.S. Department of Energy’s 310-square-mile Savannah River Site near Aiken, South Carolina, Beasley gives advanced hands-on instruction to students investigating the conditions of wildlife and their behavior. “I spend a lot of time in the field mentoring students,” said Beasley, who also is a faculty ...

Rebecca R. "Becky" Sharitz, former professor of plant biology and senior research ecologist at the UGA’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, died Oct. 20 at her home in Aiken, South Carolina. A native of Virginia, Sharitz joined the UGA faculty at SREL in 1972 and later served as acting director of the laboratory. She was also an adjunct faculty member in the Odum School of Ecology ...

Athens, Ga. –Researchers from the University of Georgia have discovered that timing of exposure is a key factor in how certain contaminants affect the reproductive system—information that may help scientists understand the causes of reproductive disorders in wildlife and women. Scientists observed many of the negative effects of estrogen-mimicking contaminants on the reproductive system of female alligators living in Lake Apopka, a 50-square-mile lake northwest ...

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Aiken, S.C. – Olin E. Rhodes, Jr., director of the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory and professor in the Odum School of Ecology, has been named the 2018 recipient of the Caesar Kleberg Award for Excellence in Applied Wildlife Research. The annual award is given by The Wildlife Society in honor of the late Texas conservationist Caesar Kleberg. TWS defines the award as ...

Monday, October 8, 2018 Aiken, S.C.—The University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory’s Radionuclide Education, Monitoring, and Outreach Project, known as REMOP, is starting the sampling phase of the project in Burke County. Megan Winzeler, the program’s coordinator, said the project is seeking individuals to donate meat that was farm raised or harvested from animals in the county. They also need vegetables that were grown ...

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Aiken, S.C. – Eight students recently joined the long list of undergraduates to receive advanced hands-on training at the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory on the  Savannah River Site. The students are engaged in a 10-week Research Experience for Undergraduates funded by the National Science Foundation. SREL’s program offers undergraduates a unique opportunity to study radioecology, studying the fate, transport and effects of ...

Wild pigs number between 5 and 6 million in the United States and they cause more than $1.5 billion in damage to property, agriculture, natural resources and cultural artifacts, according to the National Wildlife Research Center of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But a group of scientists led by a researcher from the University of Georgia has a plan for gaining control of this invasive ...

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Aiken, S.C.– James C. Beasley, assistant professor at the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory and Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, has been named the 2018 recipient of UGA’s Fred C. Davison Early Career Scholar Award. Named in honor of UGA’s18th president, the award is given annually to an early career faculty member to recognize outstanding accomplishment and evidence for future success ...

Writer: Vicky L. Sutton-Jackson, (803) 725-2752, vsuttonj@srel.uga.edu Contacts: Nicole White, knwhite21@gmail.com;Tracey Tuberville, tubervil@srel.uga.edu Trekking through two military installations in the Florida panhandle to study gopher tortoise behavior seemed like a pretty straightforward assignment, but Nicole White found something interesting. Wildlife camera footage captured the unexpected — 20 species of birds not known for visiting tortoise burrows were making themselves at home. White, then a graduate ...

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February 8, 2018  Media Advisory: REMOP presents 'What is Risk ?' The University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory’s Radiological Education, Monitoring and Outreach Project will answer the question “What is Risk?” at its community talk. The talk will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 19 at 6 p.m. and on Thursday, Feb. 22 at 10 a.m. at the Burke County Library. The library is located ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  Media Advisory: REMOP presents 'What is Tritium?' The University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory’s Radiological Education, Monitoring and Outreach Project will present “What is Tritium?” on Monday, Jan. 22 at 6 p.m. and on Thursday, Jan. 25 at 10 a.m. at the Burke County Library in Waynesboro, Georgia. The REMOP community talk will define the isotope tritium, its properties and how ...

December 18, 2017 Writer: Vicky L. Sutton-Jackson, 803-725-2752, vsuttonj@srel.uga.edu Contact: Erin Abernethy, 803-617-9589, efabernethy@gmail.com, Olin E. Rhodes, Jr, 803-725-8191, rhodes@srel.uga.edu In a landscape of wetlands and forested habitat, scientists at the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory found that vertebrates are giving insects a bit of competition for a nutritious meal. Their study results, reported in the November issue of Ecosphere, indicate that ants ...

The University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory’s Radiological Education, Monitoring and Outreach Project will host a panel discussion on Monday, Nov. 27 at 10:30 a.m. at the Burke County Library in Waynesboro, Georgia. The library is located at 130 GA-24. Panelists will discuss the current radiological environmental programs serving the Central Savannah River Area. Participants on the panel will include representatives from the U.S ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  Media Advisory: REMOP presents an introduction to Environmental Monitoring Programs The University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory’s Radiological Education, Monitoring and Outreach Project will present the topic, Environmental Monitoring Programs, at several sessions on Monday, Oct. 16. The 45-minute REMOP presentation will be held at 9:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 1 p.m. and at 6:30 p.m. at the Burke County Library in ...

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September 21, 2017 Writer: Vicky L. Sutton-Jackson, 803-725-2752, vsuttonj@srel.uga.edu Contact: Kelsey Turner, 803-725-5329, klturner@srel.uga.edu; James Beasley, 803-725-5113, beasley@srel.uga.edu Aiken, S.C. – Wildlife scavengers are constantly on the lookout for their next meal, but now researchers at the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory have a better idea not only of who eats what, but also when and where, thanks to high-tech cameras that helped ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  Media Advisory: REMOP presents Radiation in Our Lives The University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory’s Radiological Education, Monitoring and Outreach Project will present the educational talk, Radiation in Our Lives, on Monday, Sept. 18 at the Burke County Library in Waynesboro, Georgia. The talk will be presented at 9:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. The Burke County Library ...

Writer: Vicky L. Sutton-Jackson, 803-725-2752, vsuttonj@srel.uga.edu  Contact: David Keiter, dak10933@uga.edu; James Beasley, (803)725-5113, beasley@srel.uga.edu Aiken, S.C. – Wild pigs, also known as feral hogs and feral swine, are an invasive species. The descendants of domestic swine mixed with Eurasian boar were brought to the U.S. from Europe in the 1500s and since have expanded across the nation, proving to be costly. Numbering between 5 and ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   Media Advisory: UGA SREL’s 9th Annual “Touch An Animal Day” Contact: Vicky Sutton-Jackson, 803-725-2752, vsuttonj@srel.uga.edu Who: University of Georgia Savannah River Ecology Laboratory What: “Touch An Animal Day” When: Saturday, Aug. 26, from 9 a.m.to noon Where:  UGA SREL Conference Center, Highway 278, approximately 17 miles southeast of Aiken, S.C., via South Carolina Highway 19. The SREL Conference Center is 25 ...

Aiken, S.C.– The University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory will hold its first community meeting for the Radiological Education, Monitoring, and Outreach Project on Monday, July 24 at the Burke County Library. To accommodate various schedules, the public will have the opportunity to attend one of three sessions for the meeting. Sessions will be held at 9 a.m., 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.  The ...

Writer: Vicky Sutton-Jackson Aiken, S.C. – The University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory welcomes 14 students to its summer undergraduate program. Representing colleges and universities from around the U.S., the 2017 cohort will embark on a 10-week Research Experience for Undergraduates focused on radioecology. Funded by the National Science Foundation, this is the only REU program allowing students to study the fate, transport and ...

Writer: Vicky L. Sutton-Jackson, 803-725-2752, vsuttonj@srel.uga.edu, Contacts: David Haskins, 803-725-5804, david.haskins@uga.edu,                       Tracey Tuberville, 803-725-5757, tubervil@uga.edu Aiken, S.C. - Coal combustion waste is well documented as an environmental pollutant. The United States produces over 130 million tons of coal combustion residues, or CCRs, every year, with 40 percent of these wastes placed in aquatic settling ...

Aiken, S.C. – The Savannah River Ecology Laboratory recently hosted more than 90 middle school students from the Central Savannah River Area at the 2017 Eco-Meet. The event was held at the SREL Conference Center.The Eco-Meet challenges student teams to 30-minute quizzes at six stations that cover soils, archaeology, watersheds, herpetology, lake ecology and bird biology. Members of the CSRA-Environmental Science Education Cooperative sponsored the ...

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Writer: Vicky L. Sutton-Jackson Public relations coordinator, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Office of Research, UGA Contacts: Robert Kennamer, 803-725-0387, rkennamer@srel.uga.edu James Beasley, 803-725-5113, beasley@srel.uga.edu Aiken, S.C. - Migratory waterfowl around the world travel hundreds to thousands of miles annually, stopping at lakes, ponds and marshes to refuel and breed. Some of these aquatic rest stops may be at sites polluted by remnants of radioactive waste from nuclear production ...

Writer: Vicky Sutton-Jackson Public relations coordinator, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Office of Research, UGA Aiken, S.C.–The University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory has hired three new employees to join its outreach team. Santanu Mukherjee, Pacifico Perea and Megan Winzeler will expand the lab’s outreach efforts in the South Carolina and Georgia communities surrounding the U.S. Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site near Aiken, South ...

Victoria Knight WUGA Feb. 8, 2017 The Savannah River Ecology Laboratory is a research site is located directly on the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site, near Aiken, South Carolina. It’s also where UGA assistant professor Jim Beasley, and University of Florida graduate student, Felipe Hernandez, conducted a study to better understand how coal ash may affect local wildlife, particularly raccoons. Coal ash is what’s ...

Writer: Vicky L. Sutton-Jackson Public relations coordinator, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Office of Research, UGA Contacts: James C. Beasley, beasley@srel.uga.edu, Felipe Hernández, fhernandez2180@ufl.edu  Aiken, S.C. - Coal-burning power plants produce more than half of the electricity in the U.S., and they generate huge amounts of coal ash in the process. One type of coal ash is a fine, powdery particle called fly ash, which for many years was ...

Writer: Vicky L. Sutton-Jackson Public relations coordinator, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Office of Research, UGA Contacts: Erin F. Abernethy, efabernethy@gmail.com Olin E. Rhodes Jr., 803-725-8191, rhodes@sre.uga.edu Aiken, S.C. - Researchers from the University of Georgia have found that invasive species on Hawaii Island, or the Big Island of Hawaii, may be especially successful invaders because they are formidable scavengers of carcasses of other animals and after ...

Aiken, S.C. — People rarely contemplate the impact of nuclear activity unless power plants or nuclear production facilities reside near their communities. Those who live far from a nuclear facility, generally think about the environmental impacts of nuclear activities after an accident like Fukushima or Chernobyl. For the scientists at the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, the impacts of nuclear production are a ...

Aiken, S.C.– The University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory recently hosted the first joint meeting of the Association of Ecosystem Research Centers and the International Union of Radiologists. The gathering combined the annual meeting of the Association of Ecosystem Research Centers with a workshop that addressed integrating ecosystem science into radioecology. IUR representatives from France, Norway, United Kingdom, Ukraine, Japan and the United States, ...

Aiken, S.C. – The University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory welcomed 13 undergraduate students to its 2016 cohort this summer to investigate environmental conditions on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site. The students are studying the fate, transport, and effects of radionuclides, or radioactive elements, in the environment. The students in the 2016 cohort are Sarah Abercrombie, Purdue University; Jill Banach, University ...

Aiken, S.C. - The University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory will begin working this summer with the community of Shell Bluff in Burke County to help its residents understand the impacts of nuclear industrial operations in the surrounding area. The Shell Bluff community, near Waynesboro, is in close proximity to both the U.S. Department of Energy's Savannah River Site in Aiken, South Carolina, and ...

Writer:Vicky L. Sutton-Jackson Public relations coordinator, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Research, Office of the Vice President for (OVPR) Work: 803-725-2752 Contact:Robert Kennamer rkennamer@srel.uga.edu Athens, Ga. - Using long-term data and breeding history of female wood ducks, researchers at the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory set out to determine what affects the waterfowl's ability to reproduce and survive. Based on previous studies, the researchers predicted ...

Writer:Vicky L. Sutton-Jackson Contact:James C. Beasley beasley@srel.uga.edu Aiken, S.C. - Thirty years ago, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Pripyat, Ukraine, became the site of the world's largest nuclear accident. While humans are now scarce in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, continued studies—including a just-published camera study conducted by researchers from the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory—validate findings that wildlife populations are abundant at ...

Writer: Vicky L. Sutton-Jackson Aiken, S.C. - Researchers at the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory warn that the extinction of two amphibian species—the southern toad and the southern leopard frog—may be hastened by the combined effects of climate change and copper-contaminated wetlands. Scott Weir, a postdoctoral researcher who led the study, said copper is naturally found in aquatic environments and, to some extent, facilitates ...