When you read the words “gamma radiation” or “irradiated ecosystem” your first thoughts might turn towards the Incredible Hulk or Godzilla, two of the most infamous radioactive monsters of pop culture. Science fiction and horror stories and movies featuring atomic-powered beasts flourished in the imagination following the end of World War II, but the real story of how we began to understand the effects of radiation on ecological systems may have started in the Pine Barrens of Long Island in the 1960s. The Atomic Age kicked off with the tragic…
