Chatham Community Library will host  Dr. Megan Dillon of NC State University on Saturday, April 25, at 1:00 pm as she presents her research on the "Dogs of Chernobyl".   This program is free and open to the public and will take place in the Holmes Family Meeting Room.

The 1986 Chernobyl disaster released 400 times more radioactive waste than the atomic bomb in Hiroshima. Over 120,000 people were evacuated in a 30-km exclusion zone around the facility. Pets were forced to be left behind and many migrated to the nuclear power plant. The "Dogs of Chernobyl" are descendants of
those pets with hundreds still living in the 18-square-mile exclusion zone.

Through NC State’s Genetics and Genomics Scholars program, Ph.D. awardee Dr. Megan Dillon has become a leading expert in conservation biology and the population genetics of stray dogs living around Chernobyl. The project has caught the attention of many around the world and resulted in four publications since 2023.

Residents may visit the libraries’ website www.chathamlibraries.org, or contact the Library at (919) 545-8084 for more information on this and other events and programs.

Members of the media interested in attending/covering this event are asked to please notify Public Information Officer Kara Lusk in advance at 919-542-8258 or kara.lusk@chathamcountync.gov.