Oral Histories on the Sellafield Nuclear site

Research on the Impact of Radon Gas in Ireland

Oral Histories on the Radiation Experiments at the Fernald State School

Sellafield —


to be collected June 2024

Over the summer, I’ll be conducting oral histories in an effort to preserve the perspectives of those impacted by nuclear research. In June, I plan on interviewing volunteers in Ireland, England, and the Isle of Man to collect information concerning the impact of the 1957 Windscale fire and subsequent nuclear research at the Sellafield Nuclear site. This connects to the theme of consent in nuclear scientific research that I will be interrogating in my thesis, a book length collection of essays.

If you are interested in participating, please refer to the tabs below for additional information.

  • There are a couple of different options! If you’d like to meet in-person, I would be more than happy to travel to you or to meet in a public place ( a library, local coffee shop, or someplace similar). If you’d prefer a virtual meeting, I can create a Zoom link; I’m also able to email you a list of questions if you would like to contribute asynchronously or at your own pace.

  • My preferred interview style is more conversational; while I will pose a couple of questions, I’m moreso interested in your perspective and experiences.

    I’ll be taking notes throughout the conversation, but sometimes I have some trouble with catching all of the details. To collect as much information as possible, I’ll also have a back-up audio recording running.

  • While I’m collecting these oral histories for my thesis, it’s really important to me that this information is retained within the community that it belongs to. I will be donating copies of the recordings and the transcripts to Manx National Heritage to be preserved in their archives as a resource for further research and scholarship.


to be collected July 2024

The Fernald School —

In a continuation of my summer research, I will also be collecting oral histories of those impacted by the nuclear research conducted by Quaker Oats, Harvard, and MIT at The Fernald School in Waltham, MA. This topic is something that I have a personal connection to — a very close family member was coerced into joining the “science club.” The radiation experiments conducted at The Fernald School is the primary driving factor behind my thesis, motivating me to interrogate different instances in which nuclear research has lacked informed consent.

If you are interested in participating, please refer to the tabs below for additional information.

  • There are a couple of different options! If you’d like to meet in-person, I would be more than happy to travel to you or to meet in a public place ( a library, local coffee shop, or someplace similar). If you’d prefer a virtual meeting, I can create a Zoom link; I’m also able to email you a list of questions if you would like to contribute asynchronously or at your own pace.

  • My preferred interview style is more conversational; while I will pose a couple of questions, I’m moreso interested in your perspective and experiences.

    I’ll be taking notes throughout the conversation, but sometimes I have some trouble with catching all of the details. To collect as much information as possible, I’ll also have a back-up audio recording running.

  • While I’m collecting these oral histories for my thesis, it’s really important to me that this information is retained within the community that it belongs to. I will be donating copies of the recordings and the transcripts to a local archive. This information will be updated once I find an institution to partner with; however, I will not be sending any resources to Harvard or MIT due to their histories of manipulated consent regarding atomic research. This information will be preserved in an unbiased archive as a resource for further research and scholarship.