The Chornobyl Collection, collected from the Chornobyl region of Ukraine, makes the division of mammals unique at Texas Tech. The world’s worst nuclear power plant disaster occurred on 26 April 1986. This meltdown resulted in some extremely radioactive sites as well as substantial areas in Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, etc. that have elevated radiation background. A team led by Professor Ron Chesser, including Robert Baker, has collected over 3,000 mammal specimens from this Chornobyl region. The goals of this collection included archiving the biodiversity that was present after 1994. Several publications that document the genetics and nature of this Chornobyl collection are listed under our Chornobyl section of the NSRL home page. Having a radioactive collection created a unique set of curatorial problems, including the need to provide special training for the staff and isolation of the collections. We believe that archiving this collection will have values to future generations who can profit from understanding the biological significance of this nuclear disaster.

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