Newsworthy Research

WHOI research associate Crystal Breier (second from left) showed a group of 2014 Ocean Science Journalism fellows the gamma well detector used to process samples of seawater for signs of radiation from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. This specialized instrument amplifies and measures energy released by the decay of radioactive isotopes. The samples are gathered and sent in from citizens and communities all over the country as part of the “How Radioactive Is Our Ocean” project, which helps WHOI chemist Ken Buesseler monitor the ongoing spread of radiation across the Pacific and its evolving impacts on the ocean. (Photo by Ken Kostel, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)