Savannah River Ecology Laboratory

The Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (SREL) is a research unit of the University of Georgia, located at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Savannah River Site (SRS) in Aiken, South Carolina. SREL is supported by federal, state, industry and foundation funding. Since the laboratory's founding in 1951 by Dr. Eugene Odum of the University of Georgia, a pioneer of modern ecology, SREL scientists have conducted long-term environmental studies on the SRS nuclear facility.

SREL offers short and long-term educational and research opportunities in ecology and environmental sciences for graduate and undergraduate students. A wide variety of natural habitat types on the SRS, along with the presence of nuclear and industrial facilities, provides students an exceptional opportunity to study natural and disturbed ecological systems in the same region. Combined with a modern laboratory and field facilities and a diverse natural flora and fauna, SREL offers opportunities for students to develop ecological expertise and for visiting investigators to conduct research.

1951: The Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) asked the University of Georgia to submit a proposal to conduct ecological research at Savannah River Plant (SRP, later renamed SRS). Dr. Eugene Odum, headed the effort, and with $11,934 in funding for the first year, a small but eager group began work three days after the budget was approved. Odum and a group of scientists, many of whom volunteered their time and knowledge, focused on two areas of research: Inventory of conspicuous features of the environment of the site and basic, long-term ecological research. 1955: The University of Georgia hired Dr. Robert Norris as the first ecologist to conduct full-time research at the Savannah River Plant. Norris later won the Eminent Ecologist Award given annually by the Ecological Society of America.

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