BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
Ecological Studies
Plans have been made for a long-term study of the effects of environmental conditions and
processes on plant and animal life on Rongelap Atoll and in adjacent waters. An effort will also
be made to determine the relationship between biological systems of the land and the sea.
Climatic data will be collected on temperature, rainfall, light intensities, wind, and relative
humidity. Indigenous soil factors will be analyzed by mapping of soil and radiation patterns,
and aquatic features will be studied in both fresh and salt water. An inventory of plant and
animal life will include the determination of species association; mapping of vegetation patterns; plant and animal population studies; study of the production, utilization, exchange, and
transfer of mineral and organic materials between the land and sea; sampling of the lagoon
bottom; and sampling for radioactivity in selected plants and animals. This study is expected
to begin about the time the Rongelap people are returned to their homeisland.
NEW EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM
By formal agreement with the American Institute of Biological Sciences, AEC has arranged
to provide lecturers in biology to small colleges and universities throughout the United States.
Forty-one members of AEC staffs at laboratories and other installations have volunteered to
lecture and consult with students during three- to five-day visits at nearby institutions. The
first visits were made during March,but the program is not expected to be in full operation
until the fall semester of 1957. (Endotoe section.)
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