The K. Elaine Hoagland Oyster Creek research papers houses materials related to K. Elaine Hoagland’s research conducted near the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station in New Jersey. This collection, which dates from 1965 to 1983, consists of data sheets, statistical information, notes, lists, field notes, reports, and x-rays, and documents Hoagland’s research process and findings while she was studying the Oyster Creek region.

The collection is arranged into three series: “Series I. Data, 1965-1983,” “Series II. Reports, 1967-1981,” and “Series III. X-rays, 1973-1982.”

Series I “Data” dates from 1965 to 1983 and is arranged alphabetically. This series contains data sheets, fouling statistics, identifications, records of experiments, and procedures. These materials comprise the raw data collected from the project at Oyster Creek and, along with the x-rays found in Series III, were used to create the reports found in Series II. Researchers should note that many of the data sheets found in this series are oversize. Also included in this series are some materials related to Charles B. Wurtz’s research at Oyster Creek, including field notes, species lists, fish egg data, negatives, and a map. Wurtz appears to have conducted studies at Oyster Creek prior to K. Elaine Hoagland’s research, and also produced reports, found in Series II, related to this data.

Series II “Reports” dates from 1967 to 1981 and is arranged chronologically. This series contains reports related to the Oyster Creek project, covering topics such as Barnegat Bay fish populations, bottom studies, shipworm populations, and test panel findings. The test panel findings correspond to x-rays found in Series III. Also included are materials related to the civil case Van Dissel et al v. J.C.P&L, in which Hoagland contributed an affadavit. Researchers should note that several of the earlier reports were written by Charles B. Wurtz, who appears to have conducted studies at Oyster Creek prior to K. Elaine Hoagland’s research in the area. These reports, along with the accompanying data in Series I, may be related to Wurtz’s other materials, which can be found in Academy Archives collection 986. They were most likely retained with this collection for background information regarding the geographic area.

Series III “X-rays” dates from 1973 to 1982 and is arranged chronologically. This series contains x-rays of wood panels that were captured at monthly intervals to reveal changes in wood-boring shipworm populations over the course of the study. These x-rays have their original descriptions preserved, maintaining abbreviations, letters, and numbers. Rather than attempt to translate this system to decipher its meaning, abbreviations and numbers have been preserved as they were originally recorded, so that no information would be accidentally lost. Nevertheless, we can make some assumptions about the system. Cum., Y., K., Var., Mon., M., V., T., LE., E., and C. are the main abbreviations used, and most likely refer to catagories of data collected. Cum. or C. could refer to cumulative x-rays, while Mon. and M. probably refer to monthly x-rays and Y. likely refers to yearly. V. and Var. could possibly refer to variable or varying, and LE. could refer to Lazy Elks, which appears elsewhere. We can therefore deduce that the abbreviations may refer to types of x-ray samples collected or locations, with numbers corresponding to the specific wooden panels. Researchers should note that x-rays in this subseries correspond to written data recorded in Series I and reports in Series II.

This collection provides a good example of what types of data are produced by a research project such as the Oyster Creek. The records included in this collection do not document the administration of the project, but rather its findings. This collection would therefore prove valuable to researchers interested in hydrobiology, environmental studies in the 1970s, and more specifically, the effects nuclear generating stations may have on wood-boring bivalve or shipworm populations.