NOTES ON PEOPLE (07/20/03)

NOTES ON PEOPLE

Awarded Fulbright for study in Ukraine

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - Ukrainian American Olena Welhasch was awarded the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship to conduct research in Ukraine over a 10-month period during 2003.

Since January the 26-year-old's focus has been on Ukraine's radioecology - the study of radiation's effects on an ecological population or community. Ms. Welhasch told The Weekly she hopes her research will help decrease the amount of radiation consumed by residents who continue growing produce on radiation-contaminated lands near Chornobyl.

Radiation in Ukraine, mostly the result of fallout from the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear disaster, is absorbed by livestock grazing on contaminated land or through produce grown in contaminated soil. It is subsequently ingested by many Ukrainians still living near or within the contaminated zone, Ms. Welhasch recently told The Weekly. As a result, Ukraine has experienced a dramatic increase since 1986 in the occurrence of various forms of cancer, birth abnormalities and other radiation-related illnesses.

According to Ms. Welhasch, however, certain simple, inexpensive changes in agricultural practices could help lower the harmful levels of radiation found in livestock and produce.

As part of her work under the Fulbright Scholarship. Ms. Welhasch is researching how radiation is specifically affecting the country's agrarians. She hopes to start public education programs that would teach Ukrainians how to decrease their exposure to harmful radiation while still allowing them to safely farm and raise livestock.

Since Ms. Welhasch, who graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a degree in English, did not have any background in radioecology or agriculture, she enrolled in various Ukrainian-language radiobiology courses at the National Agricultural University of Ukraine and the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. Additionally, she attends radiobiology conferences and seminars in Kyiv and Zhytomyr.

Ms. Welhasch is a member of Ukrainian National Association Branch 171 and a former student intern at The Ukrainian Weekly.

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